HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team got another solid performance from
Kevin Hu while
Kuany Kuany posted his second double-double of the season as the Silverswords ended a four-game losing streak with a 94-84 win over Fresno Pacific Thursday at McCabe Gym.
Hu went for 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the floor, including going 3-for-5 beyond the 3-point arc. Meanwhile, Kuany went for 20 points and 12 rebounds, his 10
th career double-double for the Silverswords, who improved to 5-7 on the season and 2-4 in the Pacific West Conference.
Hu has scored double digits his last seven games, averaging 18.7 points per contests while hitting a staggering 65.6 percent of his shots during this stretch. He also became the team's leading scorer at 14.4 ppg on the season.
Lee Bailey had a solid overall performance with 15 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals in the victory. Meanwhile
James Harper added 11 points, his first double-digit scoring game in over a month while
Frankie Eteuati had 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
Madison Higgins had 23 points for the Sunbirds, who fell to 5-8 and 1-5. Higgins buried five triples on the night as FPU knocked down 12-of-25 from long range.
Meanwhile, Chaminade countered by hitting a season-tying 11 shots from beyond the arc. Like Hu, Bailey knocked down three on the night.
The first half belonged to the Sunbirds as they established an early lead that grew to as many as 10. The 'Swords managed to make a dent in the deficit as Bailey and Kuany each cashed in five points during the final four minutes to put them down 48-43 at halftime.
After two Bobby Barnes field goals coming out of the break upped FPU's lead to seven, Harper scored eight points during a 10-0 run that gave the 'Swords a 53-52 lead, their first since early in the first half.
The teams traded several baskets before
Kiran Shastri buried his first 3-pointer of the game coming with 13:22 remaining to give Chaminade a 60-58 lead which it would never relinquish. Shastri's triple also extended his streak of made 3-pointers to 41 games.
The Silverswords blew the game open on a decisive 16-2 run during a six-minute span midway through the final 20 minutes with six 'Swords scoring during the stretch.
Chaminade shot 52.5 percent from the floor on the night, its second-best percentage of the season, although Fresno Pacific also shot at a high percentage at over 53 percent. However, the 'Swords dominated on the glass with a 40-25 rebounding advantage. They also dished out 18 assists to tie a season-high, along with 13 turnovers. FPU had 14 assists to 11 giveaways.
The 'Swords were also 19-of-22 from the foul line while the Sunbirds were only 8-of-16.
Chaminade embarks on its first Mainland road trip of the season, traveling to Northern California to face Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday, Jan. 17.
