HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team overcame a sluggish start and a feisty Academy of Art squad to score an 81-70 win Saturday at McCabe Gym.
The Silverswords outscored the Urban Knights, 50-32, in the second half to help clinch a spot in the upcoming Pacific West Conference Tournament for the first time since 2014.
Kiran Shastri had a game-high 22 points – 18 in the second half – for Chaminade which improved to 16-9 overall and 12-6 in the PacWest, vaulting them past Concordia University Irvine into fourth-place in the conference standings. The senior drained six 3-pointers including five during a frantic six-minute span midway through the second half.
Rohndell Goodwin added 20 points while
Kuany Kuany had 16, tying his career high with four triples. In the process, Kuany moved past George Gilmore into fourth in the program's all-time scoring list with 1,532 points, one better than the future Silversword Hall-of-Famer who will be inducted next month.
Austin Pope had his ninth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds but also tied his season-best with seven assists. He also added three block and two steals.
Sam Daly contributed with six assists and six boards.
Kendall Brown led the Urban Knights (6-15, 5-10 PacWest) with 16 points.
After Chaminade established an early 14-7 lead four minutes into the game, ART U used a 16-2 run for its largest lead of 23-17 later in the half. But
Justin Bridges scored six of CUH's eight straight points to put them ahead, 25-23, with the Urban Knights countering with a 7-0 run of their own to help give them a 38-31 halftime lead.
ART U maintained its lead in the opening stages of the second half and led 44-39 with 16:16 left. But after a power outage caused a slight delay due to the inclement weather that wreaked havoc throughout the island the entire day, the 'Swords went on a power surge of their own.
Chaminade exploded upon returning to the court, going on a 24-5 run over the next six minutes including 16 straight. Shastri was lights out, hitting 5-of-6 triples during the span while
Dantley Walker hit another as the Silverswords went up, 63-49, with 10:11 left.
But ART U responded with a 12-0 run of its own to pull within 63-61 with well-over six minutes remaining. But then it was Pope's turn to steal the show.
The junior had a steal and breakaway layup while drawing a flagrant foul. He hit both foul shots then on the ensuing inbounds pass, snuck through the Urban Knights defense for another layup. Seconds later, he got another steal, drove to the rim and, in a highlight worthy play, went around-the-world for a layup which put Chaminade up, 71-61. Pope scored all eight of those points in 17 seconds.
Again the Urban Knights didn't back down, cutting the deficit to just five with 2:33 left. But Kuany applied the dagger, drilling a 3-pointer a minute later to put Chaminade back in front by eight.
Despite shooting just 39.1 percent from the floor, the 'Swords controlled the glass with a 44-38 rebounding advantage and forced 18 ART U giveaways. Chaminade also had nine blocked shots with
Tyler Cartaino getting three.
The Silverswords are next in action Saturday when they host Point Loma at McCabe Gym. The 'Swords defeated the Sea Lions in the first meeting on Feb. 2 and will look to sweep the season series and solidify their No. 4 seeding in the PacWest Tournament. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. with live streaming audio on GoSwords.com.
