SAN DIEGO – The Chaminade University men's basketball team opened the season Thursday with a 68-63 loss to San Diego State at Viejas Arena.
The Silverswords led by as many as 11 late in the first half but the Aztecs went on an 18-0 run spanning both halves to take the lead they would not relinquish.
The 'Swords were led by
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State/Palo Verde HS) who scored 18 points in the exhibition.
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Oreto JC/Charnwood HS) added 13 in his 'Swords debut. Chaminade hit 12 3-pointers with Dressler and Arissol knocking down three each.
The Aztecs were led by Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel who hit for 16 points each.
The contest was an exhibition for both squads and does not count in the regular season records.
"We view them as a high-major team," 'Swords head coach
Eric Bovaird said in the postgame press conference. "To be able to come in as a Division II team that just started practice 12 days ago – or whatever it's been – and to come in and hang with a really good team like that, I'm proud of our guys."
For Chaminade it was the program's first game against Division I foe on the mainland since Dec. 21, 1999 when it played at Ball State in Muncie, Ind.
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury), playing his first game since March 2017 and missed all of last year due to an injury, had seven points as did newcomer
Jake Hutchings (Las Vegas/Howard CC/Centennial HS).
SDSU scored the game's first seven points but Chaminade chipped away, tying it on
Masa Swain's (San Jose, Calif./Bellermine Prep) triple which tied it at 11 eight minutes in. Four minutes later, they took their first lead of the game on Cartaino's triple which made it 16-15.
After the Aztecs went ahead later in the half, the 'Swords went on a 21-8 run over the next 6:18. Chaminade made 8 of 14 shots from the floor including 5 of 8 from outside the arc. Dressler accounted for 11 points during the surge which was capped by Arissol's triple which put Chaminade up 37-26 with 1:41 left in the first half.
However the Silverswords did not score again until 12:45 left in the second half on a layup from
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College/Marysville HS) ending a drought of nearly 14 minutes without a point with SDSU ahead 44-39.
The Aztecs led by as many as eight in the second half but the 'Swords found ways to hang around the remainder of the game. Dressler's free throw cut SDSU's lead to just 56-53 with five minutes left but the 'Swords were never able to get closer the remainder of the game.
"I have eight of our 16 guys that are brand-new that I did not have," Bovaird said. "For them to be able to make adjustments as the game goes and be able to execute, it was good."
The Silverswords' 3-point shooting kept them in the contest although the Aztecs were able to go to the foul line 26 times to Chaminade's nine trips to counter the long-range threat.
The 'Swords next exhibition contest will be Sunday when they face powerhouse Arizona, one of college basketball's household names. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. Hawai'i time and will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
