SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Last March, the Chaminade University men's basketball team completed an improbable run by defeating Dominican University of California in the championship game of the Pacific West Conference Tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA West Regional.
Thursday at the Conlon Center, the Penguins got even.
The Silverswords couldn't hang on to a nine-point second half lead to drop an 81-77 decision to Dominican.
Kuany Kuany scored a season-high 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor to lead the Silverswords (6-9, 3-6 PacWest).
Kevin Hu had 16 while
James Harper contributed with 12.
Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten led the Penguins (8-11, 5-6) with 21 points while Dominique Tapin had a monster game with 20 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists.
The Silverswords had a chance to pass the Penguins into seventh place in the PacWest standings. Instead, the loss, combined with Hawai'i-Hilo's win at Holy Names, dropped the 'Swords to ninth, 2 ½ games behind Point Loma for the coveted sixth and final spot in March's PacWest Tournament with 11 games remaining.
The game was tight from the onset with either team not able to establish a lead of more than four through the first 16 minutes.
With the Penguins leading 33-32 with less than four minutes left,
AJ Mathew's 3-pointer started a 10-0 Chaminade surge.
Oscar Pedroso also had a 3-ball and Kuany scored four points during the run as the 'Swords grabbed a nine-point lead with 1:43 left. The Penguins scored the half's final five points to cut the Chaminade lead to 42-38 at halftime.
The Silverswords shot an exceptional 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the floor, drilling 4-of-9 from long range. Dominican was held to 45.2 percent (14-of-31) with 5-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. They also out-rebounded Chaminade 22-16 but the Silverswords had only six turnovers to the Penguins' 10 and also got 13 points off the bench while all of DUC's points came from its starting five.
Dominican opened the second half with a field goal to close to 42-40, but Kuany bookended a 7-1 run with baskets to give the 'Swords a 49-41 lead with two minutes gone. The teams traded several scores with Chaminade holding a slim 57-55 margin at the 13:13 mark. Hu's layup started a 10-2 run, ended by
Kiran Shastri's first 3-pointer of the game to put the 'Swords up 67-57, their largest of the game, with 9:17 left.
But behind the home crowd, Dominican rallied. Down 71-62 with less than seven minutes left, Josh Armstrong hit a 3 to start a 14-0 run as DUC grabbed a 76-71 advantage with two minutes left. Back came the 'Swords as
Frankie Eteuati (7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) hit a jumper, followed by a Kuany layup closed the gap to 76-75 with a minute left.
But Schwartz-Edmisten nailed a triple as the shot clock expired with 25 seconds left giving DUC a four-point lead at 79-75. On the next possession,
Lee Bailey was fouled while making a layup, but couldn't finish the 3-point play which would've made it a one-point game. Josh Armstrong then hit two free throws to seal the game.
Chaminade's aggressiveness to the basket got them 33 free throw attempts with 20 makes while Dominican was only 8-of-13, but the difference was in field goals. The Penguins made 17-of-32 from the field in the second half while the Silverswords were only 10-of-23. They were also out-rebounded 22-11 in the final 20 minutes, for final rebounding totals of 44-27. The Penguins also hit 11 triples while the 'Swords had five.
Chaminade concludes the road trip Saturday at Holy Names.
