RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The first meeting between the Chaminade University and California Baptist two weeks ago saw the Silverswords pull off their biggest win of the season against the then-ranked 16
th team in the nation at McCabe Gym. There would be no repeat upset in the rematch.
The Lancers, back in the national rankings at No. 22, got even with a 104-71 win over the Silverswords Saturday at Van Dyne Gym.
Chaminade forward
Frankie Eteuati collected his first career double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds, both career-highs, doing the feat on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor. It's the second straight game the senior from Long Beach, Calif., set his career scoring high. He's averaged 22 points in his last two games and is 18-for-25 from the field (72 percent).
James Harper added 11 points for the 'Swords while
Kuany Kuany had nine points and seven boards.
Kevin Hu and
Kiran Shastri contributed with eight points each.
Gelaun Wheelwright had 28 points for the Lancers, hitting six 3-pointers on the night.
The Silverswords fell to 6-13 overall and 6-10 in the Pacific West Conference. They remain 2 ½ games behind Hawai'i Pacific for the sixth and final spot for next month's PacWest Tournament with four games remaining.
California Baptist improved to 19-4 and 13-3 in the PacWest.
Chaminade had a rough start to the game, finding itself down 15-5 four minutes in. Then consecutive buckets from Kuany, Harper and Eteuati brought them to 15-11. But the 'Swords were held to one field goal for over five minutes as CBU went on a 17-4 run to take a 44-25 lead with 3:33 left in the first half and led 54-34 at halftime.
The 'Swords were never able to closer to 15 the rest of the way.
Despite having a depleted roster, several reserve 'Swords were able to get valuable playing time against a quality nationally ranked opponent. Both
Amu Rosen and
Michael Sakazaki set personal-bests in seeing court time, both getting 11 minutes of action. Sakazaki also got his first career field goal midway through the second half.
Chaminade was held to 43.3 percent from the floor and hit six 3-pointers. They were out-rebounded 42-30 and committed 16 turnovers with six assists. Conversely, CBU hit 50 percent of its shots, including 15-of-33 from 3-point range. The Lancers had 18 assists to nine turnovers.
The Silverswords end the road trip Monday at No. 24 Azusa Pacific then return home for their final three home games of the year.
