HONOLULU – Just four days after their 24-point rout of Division I California at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, the Chaminade University men's basketball team showed little signs of a letdown with an 85-81 win in their home opener against a feisty Cal State Dominguez Hills squad Sunday at McCabe Gym.
Five Silverswords scored in double figures led by
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College) who set season-highs of 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.
Austin Pope (Burbank, Calif./North Idaho College) added 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Chaminade which improved to 4-2 on the season.
Brett Reed (Houston/Cabrillo College) came off the bench with 14 points and seven boards while
Dantley Walker (Panaca, Nev./UNLV) and
Justin Bridges (Atlanta/Georgia Highlands) added 10 each.
The Toros (2-6) had two double-double performances with Mikey Hatfield (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Jonathan Nichols (15 points, 15 boards).
The Silverswords never trailed and led by double-digits for a majority of the first half and owned as many as a 16-point edge. Scheive had 14 points while Pope had six rebounds and six assists by halftime.
Chaminade maintained its double-digit lead for much of the second half but CSUDH went on an 18-6 run late to cut the deficit to a single point (75-74) with 1:38 left.
However, Walker drilled a 3-pointer followed by a Scheive layup to push the 'Swords' lead back to five.
Nicholas Anderson (Anaheim, Calif./Fullerton College), Scheive and Bridges combined to hit 5 of 6 free throws to help keep the game out of reach for the Toros.
The 'Swords shot nearly 42 percent from the floor and held CSUDH to just 35.7. They also out-rebounded the visitors, 46-40, and held the Toros to identical 5 of 14 shooting from long range in both halves. Chaminade made 8 of its 18 tries from long range.
The Silverswords open Pacific West Conference action Thursday when they host Concordia University Irvine at McCabe Gym. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. with live streaming audio on GoSwords.com.
