Box Score HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team ended their regular season in style with a 90-78 win over Fresno Pacific in a Pacific West Conference game Saturday night at McCabe Gym.
Freshman guard
Kuany Kuany scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Silverswords (16-12 overall, 13-7 PacWest).
Kiran Shastri hit for 21 points with five 3-pointers while
Kevin Hu added 16.
Lee Bailey contributed with 12.
Malcolm Griffin had 23 to pace the Sunbirds, who ended their season at 11-17 and 6-14.
Kuany, a legitimate conference Freshman of the Year candidate, also ripped down eight rebounds, along with Hu and
Tyree Harrison's seven boards each, helping the 'Swords control the rebounding edge, 47-40.
Kuany was extremely efficient, hitting 7-of-10 shots from the floor while making 7-of-8 foul shots.
Rhys Murphy scored three points with five rebounds while Harrison chipped in with six points in the final home games for both seniors.
Chaminade never trailed in the contest as Murphy drilled a trey to open the game. After the Sunbirds tied it on Griffin's 3-point play, a 15-4 'Sword run opened up their lead to double digits. FPU eventually chopped it down to four at 24-20 with 8:17 left in the half, but Shastri knocked down a trio of triples to help trigger an 11-2 run that got the CUH lead to 35-22.
The 'Swords eventually built an 18-point lead late in the stanza and led, 49-32, at the break. Chaminade shot with stunning precision in the half, hitting a staggering 68 percent (19-of-28) first half shots while limiting Fresno Pacific to only 11-of-37 from the floor (30 percent).
The Sunbirds would not get any closer than 11 the rest of the game as the 'Swords built their lead to as many as 18 in the second half for a convincing victory.
The final numbers saw Chaminade hit 54 percent from the floor while FPU shot 34 percent overall. Both teams made eight 3-point baskets and hit 18 free throws, but Chaminade's foul shots came on 25 attempts while the Sunbirds attempted 35 from the charity stripe.
The Silverswords will pack their bags and head to San Diego for the PacWest Tournament next week. Chaminade is the No. 5 seed and will face fourth-seeded BYU-Hawai'i in the tournament's opening round on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. Pacific Time. The Silverswords and Seasiders split their regular season meetings, each winning on each other's home floor with both games going into overtime.
The winner draws the No. 1 seed and nationally seventh-ranked California Baptist in Friday's semifinal.
Thursday's first round game will be carried via streaming audio on goswords.com.
PacWest Tournament, Men's Bracket (all times Pacific Standard)
Thursday, March 6:
#3 Dixie State vs. #6 Hawai'i Pacific, 1 p.m.
#4 BYU-Hawai'i vs. #5 Chaminade, 3:15 p.m.
Friday, March 7:
#2 Dominican vs. Dixie State-HPU winner, 1 p.m.
#1 California Baptist vs.
BYUH-Chaminade winner, 3:15 p.m.
Saturday, March 8:
Men's Championship, 5 p.m.
