ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Chaminade University men's basketball team nearly pulled off an epic rally but fell short 90-81 at Dixie State in a Pacific West Conference game Tuesday at Burns Arena.
The Silverswords, who had their four-game winning streak snapped, trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half finally got back on track midway through and cut the deficit to as little as three with five minutes remaining.
Kuany Kuany recorded his third consecutive double-double and sixth this season with a team-high 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Silverswords fell to 5-7 overall and 3-2 in the PacWest.
James Harper and
David Ware had 15 and 13 points, respectively, all of which came in the final 20 minutes after both were held scoreless in the first half.
Oscar Pedroso had 13 points for the Silverswords while
Rohndell Goodwin added 10. Goodwin also had seven rebounds with
Sam Daly dishing out five assists.
Mark Odgen Jr. led the Red Storm (5-5, 3-1) with 22 points and 16 rebounds.
Meanwhile the 'Swords continued to be baffled in St. George, falling to 8-1 lifetime at Burns Arena with their only win coming in February 2012.
The Silverswords scored the game's first five points behind Kuany's game-opening 3-pointer and
Kevin Hu's layup. The Red Storm also owned a pair of five-point leads later before going on a 15-1 run in the final 4:21 to grab a 43-27 halftime advantage.
DSU was able to build the lead to 17 three times in the opening minutes of the second half but the 'Swords began chipping away. Trailing 53-38 with just under 15 minutes left, Harper's 3-point play ignited a spark as Goodwin added two free throws along with Pedroso's four points and suddenly, the 9-0 run put them back into the game, trailing 53-47 with 13 minutes remaining.
The Red Storm managed to extend their lead back to double-digits but Ware caught fire. The senior from Las Vegas, which is a two-hour drive from St. George, scored 13 points including a pair of 3-pointers during a five-minute stretch as the 'Swords closed to within three with five minutes remaining.
But three offensive fouls on charges by Chaminade derailed their efforts to complete the comeback as the Red Storm held on in the final seconds.
Both teams shot well-under 50 percent from the floor with the Silverswords hitting at a 42.6 percent clip while the Red Storm shot 44.4, although CUH managed to shoot 60 percent in the second half. Chaminade, whose team 3-point percentage was at 40 percent entering the game, was able to convert only 22 percent of its shots (6-for-27).
The 'Swords were also out-rebounded 50-37 and made only 17 of their 25 free throw attempts (68 percent) while Dixie State was a solid 22-of-28 (78 percent) from the charity stripe.
Kiran Shastri, Chaminade's leading scorer at 14.5 points per game coming into the contest, was held to only four points. He was 0-for-4 from beyond three point range, marking only the second time in 77 career games that he was held without a 3-pointer.
The 'Swords continue the road trip Thursday when they travel to 14
th-ranked California Baptist, the preseason favorite to win the PacWest championship.
