SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – The Chaminade University men's basketball needed a strong defensive effort and got it on the final game of their Bay Area road trip.
Two nights after surrendering a 68 percent shooting performance at Dominican, the Silverswords got exactly that as they cruised past Notre Dame de Namur, 95-57, Saturday at Walter Gleason Gymnasium.
Rohndell Goodwin capped off his impressive return to the area he calls home with a 24 point performance, helping the Silverswords go 3-1 on the trip and improving them to 10-12 overall and 8-7 in the Pacific West Conference. The 57 points allowed was the fewest against Division II opponents this season and also the 40 percent shooting clip by the Argonauts was the lowest surrendered in seven games.
Goodwin, the Oakland native, hit nine of his 14 attempts including a season-high-tying four 3-pointers.
Kuany Kuany added 15 points with nine rebounds, just missing his 12
th double-double of the year with
Kevin Hu contributing 12 points.
Tre'Shaw King-Dunbar led Notre Dame de Namur (3-18, 2-12) with 18 points.
NDNU led briefly early in the contest at 9-7 before Goodwin and
Kiran Shastri hit consecutive triples to put the 'Swords ahead.
James Harper scored five points, including a three-point play, during a 9-0 run to put Chaminade up by double-digits for the first time at 23-11.
The 'Swords maintained a 10-point advantage then allowed only one field goal in the final five minutes of the first half. Hu and Kuany capped a 10-2 run with consecutive steals and breakaway dunks in the half's final 15 seconds to give Chaminade a 41-23 lead at the break.
Layups from Kuany, Hu and
Sam Daly (eight points, five assists), along with triples from Shastri and Goodwin extended the Silverswords' lead to 31.
David Ware scored nine of his 11 points in the second half while
Dantley Walker had six in the final 20 minutes as the 'Swords put up 54 second-half points.
Chaminade hit 72.4 percent (21 of 29) of its second-half shots on en-route to a 60 percent shooting clip on the night. The 'Swords hit 12 3-pointers to NDNU's four, out-rebounded them, 30-29, and forced 22 turnovers while dishing out 17 assists to only nine giveaways.
The win brought the 'Swords to within a half-game of BYU-Hawai'i, which holds the sixth and final spot in next month's PacWest Tournament in Irvine, California, with five games remaining.
Shastri inched closer to a personal milestone. The junior sharpshooter had 11 points, giving him 991 in his career. Meanwhile, Kuany moved into the program's top 10 scoring list, giving him 1,179 points, passing Stanley Martin (1,172) who played for Chaminade from 1997 to 2000.
The Silverswords return home to McCabe Gym Thursday as they face intercity rival, Hawai'i Pacific Univeristy in a rematch of the Jan. 26 contest won by the Sharks at Moanalua High School Gym. Live streaming audio will be available on GoSwords.com.
