HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team returned to McCabe Gym for the first time in three weeks and treated the home crowd to a thrilling 79-77 win over California Baptist in a Pacific West Conference game Thursday.
Kuany Kuany logged his second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Silverswords got a much-needed win against a top opponent to improve to 8-9 overall and 5-6 in the PacWest.
Frankie Eteuati added 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor along with nine rebounds and four blocked shots for Chaminade, while
David Ware came off the bench with 11 points.
Ryan Berg, the PacWest's Preseason Player of the Year, had 24 points for the Lancers. California Baptist, ranked No. 16 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll, fell to 15-3 and 9-2.
Kevin Hu and
Oscar Pedroso each had eight points for Chaminade. Hu also pulled down eight boards. Ten of the 11 players who saw game action for the 'Swords got into the scoring ledger.
The first half was near-even which saw seven ties and seven lead changes. The Lancers held the largest lead of the low-scoring half which was five. CBU owned a 30-29 lead heading into halftime on Michael Smith's 3-point play with less than a second left on the clock.
But the second half saw the Lancers slowly adding to their lead, building it to 49-40 with 12:53 remaining, their largest of the game. However, the 'Swords chipped away at the deficit with free throws from Eteuati and Ware and also a Ware layup off a
Kahanu Pu`ulei-Auld steal would get them to 54-52. Chaminade would finally capture the lead on Pedroso's and-1 play, giving the home team a 59-57 advantage with 6:51 left to play.
Baskets by Taj Spencer and Smith put the Lancers up 61-59 with 5:44 left, but Hu buried a 3-ball from the top of the key 14 seconds later to give the 'Swords the lead for good at 62-61.
The Silverswords slowly expanded it to as many as six and led 76-71 with just 39 seconds left. But the Lancers, last year's conference regular season champions, showed why they were picked to repeat this season as Smith and Berg drilled 3-pointers to close to 78-77 with nine seconds remaining.
The final nine seconds proved frantic. Ware was fouled and put on the line for two shots. He made the first to make it 79-77 but missed the second. The rebound was grabbed by Trevone Williams, but Berg lost the ball as he slipped and fell trying to make a cut past a defender. Berg somehow re-gathered the loose ball, got it to Williams who in turn fired a pass down court to Smith who was fouled by Ware with just over a second left. With a chance to tie the game, Smith's first free throw rimmed out. He intentionally missed his second attempt in hopes for an offensive board and put-back, but Kuany grabbed the board as the buzzer sounded.
Both teams struggled from the field at under 43 percent from the floor, but the 'Swords out-rebounded the Lancers, 51-37.
Chaminade also got a key contribution from Pu'ulei-Auld. Although he did not post eye-popping numbers (two points, an assist and steal), the Moanalua High School graduate played the final 12 minute of the game and was a stabilizing force in the team's comeback.
The game also marked the return of head coach
Eric Bovaird, who missed the team's previous four games during their Bay Area road trip to be with his wife as they awaiting the birth of the couple's third child. Dr. Leigh Bovaird welcomed son, Blaine, to the world on Wednesday.
Chaminade travels to the Big Island to face Hawai'i-Hilo on Saturday. The Silverswords and Vulcans have identical conference records and are 1 ½ games behind Point Loma for the sixth and final berth into March's PacWest Tournament in Irvine, Calif. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
