HILO, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University men's basketball team suffered yet another tough defeat. This time the opponent being Hawai'i-Hilo.
For the fifth time this season, the Silverswords surrendered a double-digit lead as they dropped a 101-99 decision to the Vulcans at the Hilo Civic Auditorium.
Chaminade was up by as many as 15 points midway in the second half and allowed UH-Hilo to score 65 points in the final 20 minutes.
Kuany Kuany had a season-high 26 points in defeat while pulling down eight rebounds.
Kevin Hu and
Kiran Shastri added 14 each while
Rohndell Goodwin scored 12. Goodwin and
Sam Daly also had eight boards.
Salim Gloyd and Nate Walker had 28 and 25 points, respectively, for UH-Hilo, which improved to 6-14 and 6-10 in the Pacific West Conference.
Chaminade fell to 10-14 and 8-9 in the PacWest. Despite the loss, the Silverswords remain a half-game behind Dominican (8-8 PacWest) for the sixth and final spot in the upcoming PacWest Tournament in Irvine, California.
The 'Swords quickly established a 14-2 lead early in the first half as Kuany and
Oscar Pedroso combined for 10 points. The Vulcans eventually whittled the lead down to two with five minutes left. Then
Dantley Walker, Shastri and Kuany hit consecutive 3-pointers to push the lead to 11. The 'Swords led 45-36 at the break.
Chaminade held a double-digit lead early in the second half as Goodwin's three-point play put the 'Swords up 64-49 at the 14:16 mark. Five minutes later, the Vulcans made their charge. Vandyn Lockett, Parker Farris and Ryan Reyes each buried triples and Galim's bucket were part of a 12-2 run to bring UHH to within 80-77. Reyes then put UH-Hilo ahead, 85-84, for the first time with his jumper with 4:45 left. Shastri put Chaminade ahead with two foul shots two possessions later.
But Reyes again put the Vulcans on top as his jumper gave them the lead and two straight UHH baskets put them up by five with 2:16 remaining. The 'Swords continued to trail by two possessions, then with 11 seconds left,
James Harper buried a 3-pointer from the left wing and was fouled. Harper knocked down the free throw to finish the four-point play, chopping the deficit to 100-99.
Lockett was then fouled and made the first free throw to put UH-Hilo up, 101-99. But he missed the second, giving the Silverswords life. Daly grabbed the board and raced down the court but his scoop layup attempt to tie the game was awry with just seconds left.
Chaminade shot 42.5 percent from the floor while UHH hit at a 54.4 percent clip, including 60 percent in the second half. The 'Swords out-rebounded the Vulcans, 46-41, hit 11 triples to UH-Hilo's nine and made 26 of 37 free throws while the home team went to the line 29 times, making 18.
The Silverswords have three crucial home games to close the regular season that will determine their postseason fate, starting Saturday against BYU-Hawai'i at McCabe Gym. Live streaming audio will be available on GoSwords.com.
