Box Score RIVERSIDE, Calif. – For the first five minutes after opening tip, it appeared that nothing was going to go right for the Chaminade University men's basketball team in their Pacific West Conference game at No. 8 California Baptist on Thursday. Instead, they rallied and nearly pulled off an improbable upset.
The undermanned Silverswords rallied from an early 16-point first half deficit and made the Van Dyne Gym crowd of 918 uncomfortable for the next 34 minutes, eventually falling short, 81-74.
The loss dropped the 'Swords to 13-10 overall and 10-5 in the PacWest. Coupled with Dominican University of California's win over Notre Dame de Namur, Chaminade fell into fourth place of the PacWest standings with five games remaining in the regular season. The top six eligible teams gain a berth in next month's PacWest Tournament in San Diego.
California Baptist improved to 21-1 and 15-1 to maintain a 3-game lead over second-place Dixie State.
Freshman
Kuany Kuany led Chaminade with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Tyree Harrison scored a career-high 18 points while pulling in five boards.
Kevin Hu added 15.
The Lancers were led by Anthony Consentino's 31 points, who knocked 9-of-12 3-pointers on the night. Ryan Berg, who is jostling for PacWest Freshman of the Year honors with Kuany, had 17 with six rebounds and four assists. CBU also hit 14 triples in the contest.
"I'm proud of our guys tonight," Chaminade head coach
Eric Bovaird said. "They played a tough, hard-fought game versus the No. 8 team in the country. I have a feeling we are going to keep getting better and make a serious run here late in the year."
The Lancers jumped all over the Silverswords early on, grabbing an 18-2 lead just five minutes into the game and it appeared that the rout was on. But Chaminade came roaring back as
Rhys Murphy bookended a 25-10 run during a 7-minute span, scoring five points to begin the rally and hit a 3-pointer to bring the 'Swords to within a point at 28-27. Murphy scored all 10 of his points during the surge.
The Lancers were able to fend off the 'Swords for the remainder of the half and led by six late, but the 'Swords were able to stay within striking distance, trailing 46-42 at halftime.
In the opening minutes of the second half, the Lancers would open up a 7-point advantage, but Harrison's back-to-back layups would pull the 'Swords closer.
James Harper then buried a jumper to reduce the deficit to 53-51 with 14:24 left. CBU turned it over on the next possession and Harper responded by knocking down a 3, giving Chaminade its first lead of the game at 54-53.
However, Consentino had an answer as well, giving the lead back to the home team at 56-54 on a trey a minute later. Again, the 'Swords rallied, retaking the lead at 61-60 on Kuany's layup with 10:16 left. Again, Consentino replied, hitting another 3 on ensuing possession.
The game would go blow-for-blow with both teams matching scores before the Lancers grabbed a 74-69 lead with 5:40 left, their largest in nearly seven minutes. Hu and Harrison each hit layups and a Kuany jumper brought the 'Swords to within a deuce at 77-75 with just under three minutes left.
But Berg and Consentino would apply the daggers, burying back-to-back triples, giving the Lancers an 83-75 lead with 1:28 left. CBU hit free throws and broke the CUH press for layups down the stretch to pull away.
Chaminade shot 53.3 percent (16-for-30) in the second half to come away with a 43.8 percentage overall. The 'Swords pulled down 41 rebounds, made 7of-19 from 3-point range, but was only 21-of-32 from the free throw line. California Baptist was 41.4 percent from the floor with 46 boards while hitting 79.2 percent (19-of-24) from the foul line.
The Silverswords conclude the road trip on Saturday at Dixie State.
