Box Score SAN DIEGO – A month ago, the Chaminade University men's basketball team had several chances to score an upset over nationally-ranked California Baptist on their home floor despite having a depleted bench, but didn't make plays they needed to down the stretch.
The rematch proved much different as the Silverswords got big shots and made key defensive stops as the 'Swords pulled off an 80-72 upset over the 11
th ranked and top-seed Lancers in the semifinals of the Pacific West Conference Tournament at Golden Gymnasium on the Point Loma campus.
Kiran Shastri came off the bench for a game-high 22 points while
Lee Bailey tacked on 18.
Tyree Harrison recorded his second straight double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Kuany Kuany hauled in 12 boards for the 'Swords.
The Lancers (24-3) were led by PacWest Player and Freshman of the Year Ryan Berg, who had 19.
The No. 5 seeded Silverswords (18-12) advanced to the tournament championship for the second straight year and will face second-seeded Dominican University of California on Saturday at 5 p.m. Pacific time with the winner getting the automatic berth to the NCAA West Regional. Chaminade and Dominican split its two-game series earlier this season with each team winning at home.
Chaminade led from the onset, grabbing as many as a 14-4 lead over the Lancers just over four minutes into the contest behind Bailey's pair of 3-pointers. CBU went on an 8-0 to close to within 14-12, but buckets by Shastri and Bailey put the 'Swords back up 18-12.
Again, the Lancers closed to within two at 24-22, but Chaminade had an answer. Bailey's free throws, followed by a
Rhys Murphy 3-ball pushed the lead to 29-22. A Michael Smith layup brought CBU back to 34-31, but treys by Murphy and Shastri upped CUH's lead to nine. Shastri's 3-point play gave Chaminade 43-33 lead with 33 seconds left before Chris Brown's layup lowered the Lancers' deficit to 43-35 at the half.
The Silverswords torched the first half nets, hitting 8-of-15 from long range, led by Murphy and Shastri, who buried three each. Bailey accounted for the other two. Defensively, they held the Lancers to only 2-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
Shastri had 14 to lead all scorers at the break.
In the second half, the 'Swords twice held 13-point leads before CBU was able to trim the deficits to single digits.
Frankie Eteuati would get the lead back to 10 with a baby hook then a dunk at 60-50 with 11:06 left.
The Lancers rallied from several deficits, but each time the 'Swords had a response. After Harrison's driving layup put Chaminade up 74-64 with four minutes left, CBU closed to within 76-72 on Berg's first of two free throws. But on his second attempt, a lane violation against the Lancers was called, giving the ball to the Silverswords, keeping it to a two-possession game.
Chaminade would ice it at the foul line as Kuany and Shastri each hit two to complete the upset.
The Silverswords shot under 40 percent for the game to the Lancers' 44, but they out-rebounded CBU, 43-32, and were 19-of-23 from the charity stripe, including a crucial 6-for-6 inside of two minutes.
