SAN FRANCISCO – The Chaminade University men's basketball got a blistering second half shooting performance to pull out a 91-77 win over Academy of Art Monday at historic Kezar Pavilion.
Austin Pope (Burbank, Calif./North Idaho College) scored all 18 of his points in the final 20 minutes and the Silverswords shot 70 percent in the final frame to give head coach
Eric Bovaird his 100
th career win.
More importantly, the 'Swords improved to 11-4 overall and 6-2 in the Pacific West Conference with their sixth straight victory, the team's longest since January 2014 when they won seven straight.
Bovaird joins
Merv Lopes (1977-89) and
Matt Mahar (2005-11) to reach the century victory coaching mark. Lopes won 237 career games at Chaminade while Mahar has 101.
"I am excited to get my 100
th win with this group of young men and very enjoyable to be around," Bovaird said following the game. "It's hard to believe I'm in my seventh year already. Chaminade is a great place to be."
Pope, who was held scoreless in the first half, dished out a career-tying nine assists while pulling down eight rebounds with three steals and a block while
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State) hit three 3-pointers for a career-high 17 points, 13 coming in the final 20 minutes.
"Tonight we played a great second half," Bovaird said. "Austin and Grant really stepped up."
Brett Reed (Houston/Cabrillo College) got his first double-digit scoring game in nearly a month with a season-high 16 points, hitting 6 of his 7 shots from the floor.
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College) had 12 points, going 5-for-7 from the field to help Chaminade shoot a season-best 57.4 percent from the floor.
Dantley Walker (Panaca, Nev./UNLV) and
Braden Koelliker (Kaysville, Utah/Colorado State) contributed with 11 points each.
Justin Bridges (Atlanta/Georgia Highlands) tied his career-high with five assists while also grabbing five boards.
Kendal Brown and Cameron Niven had 21 points each for the Urban Knights, who fell to 7-10 overall and 6-5 in the PacWest after having their three-game winning streak snapped.
ART U showed why it is one of the most improved teams in the conference, going score-for-score in the first half, going up by six early on. The lead teeter-tottered several times before Kendall Wright's layup put them ahead by a deuce to help stake the Urban Knights to a 33-32 halftime edge.
Walker's triple to open the second half put the 'Swords up by two with the lead changing hands eight times in stanza's first four minutes. Pope hit three straight shots including a layup for the final lead change which gave Chaminade a 44-43 advantage.
The 'Swords could not pull away until the 13:54 mark of half when they made their move. An 11-0 run keyed by a pair of Dressler triples put the black jerseys up 60-49. Another Chaminade run, this time a 14-3 surge capped by Walker's long 3-pointer with 4:38 left gave them a 19-point cushion to which ART U was unable to recover.
After being held to just 44.4 percent shooting from the floor in the first half, Chaminade made 19 of its 27 tries in the second half (70.4 percent). The 'Swords also made 6 of 11 from downtown and 15 of 21 free throws, both for the second half. They also pulled down 34 rebounds and had 20 assists to 11 turnovers.
ART U was held to 44.4 percent for the game and made just 3 of 16 triples. The Urban Knights had 33 boards and had 12 assists to just nine giveaways.
Following the game, the 'Swords gathered near the team bench to celebrate Bovaird's achievement as he reflected the milestone.
"Chaminade is a great place to be," he said. "We have great leadership starting with President (Lynn) Babington, Dean of Students Allison Jerome, and we have the best Athletics Director anyone could work for in
Bill Villa. I'm looking forward to the next 100!"
The Silverswords' road trip continues Thursday at Fresno Pacific where Bovaird can tie Mahar for second in the all-time school's win list.
