HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team could not overcome the one-two punch of Connor Looney and Jordan Martin as they suffered a 90-85 setback to Hawai'i Pacific University Thursday at McCabe Gym.
The duo combined to drill 10 3-pointers with Looney hitting for 30 points while Martin had 26, offsetting
Sam Daly's 21-point, six-assist and four-steal performance as well as a milestone night for
Kiran Shastri.
Daly hit nine of his 16 attempts while Shastri had 16 points, becoming the latest Silversword to join the 1,000-point club. But the efforts went all-for-naught as they fell to 10-13 overall and 8-8 in the Pacific West Conference.
Kuany Kuany contributed with 18 points while
Rohndell Goodwin added 16. Kuany also had a team-best seven rebounds.
Shastri became the 16
th player in program history to reach the millennium mark, tying him with Darnell Clavon for 15
th-place with 1,007 points. The junior from Orinda, California, is the third 'Sword this season to eclipse the 1,000-point barrier, joining
Kevin Hu and Kuany, who both achieved the milestone this past December.
HPU improved to 16-7 on the year and 11-5 in the PacWest.
Wearing its alternate grey uniforms for the first time this season, Chaminade opened up an early 12-4 lead with Shastri and Daly combining for nine of those points. The Sharks battled back and on the strength of an 11-2 run, built a 29-21 lead. The 'Swords battled back but found themselves down by five late in the half but Shastri shaved the deficit to 49-47 with a triple at the buzzer.
The lead see-sawed back and forth in the opening stages of the second half then Kuany began a 10-2 run with a 3-pointer and layup. Goodwin's triple gave the 'Swords their largest lead of the half at 74-68 with eight minutes left. But HPU fired back as Martin's 3 gave it a 78-77 edge.
Daly's flush off a baseline drive put Chaminade ahead 85-84 with 1:47 left but Joel Feigler's put-back on the Sharks' next possession put the visitors ahead 86-85 with 1:09 remaining. Looney then hit four shots from the charity stripe to seal the game, giving HPU its first sweep of Chaminade since the 2009-10 season.
Both teams made 33 field goals with HPU shooting at a 53.2 percent clip while CUH was at 50.8. But the Sharks pulled down 36 boards to the 'Swords' 30 and hit 12 triples while Chaminade made eight. The Silverswords were also only 11 of 18 from the foul line while HPU was 12 of 16.
Despite the loss, Chaminade still remains in the hunt for a PacWest Tournament berth, which will be held in three weeks in Irvine, California. With four games remaining, the Silverswords are only a half-game behind Dominican for the sixth and final spot in the tournament.
The 'Swords are on the road for the final time this season when face Hawai'i-Hilo on the Big Island this Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
