HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team opened the Pacific West Conference season on Thursday with a 93-86 overtime win over Fresno Pacific at McCabe Gymnasium.
Playing for the first time in 12 days, the Silverswords got four players in double figures while seniors
Nicholas Anderson (Anaheim, Calif./Fullerton College/Canyon HS),
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State/Palo Verde HS) and
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College/Marysville HS) made several big shots down the stretch for the Silverswords.
Dressler scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half and overtime while Scheive contributed with 19 points including a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the extra session.
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) continued his impressive start to the season with a career-high 18 points while Anderson had 10 and, like Scheive, made a huge go-ahead triple in overtime.
Dressler, Cartaino and Scheive each pulled down seven rebounds while Dressler and Anderson had five assists.
The win not only gave the Silverswords a 1-0 PacWest mark but also improved them to 4-0 on the year, their best start during the Maui Jim Maui Invitational Era which began in 1984-85.
Aamonde Coleman had a game-high 21 points for the Sunbirds (1-3, 0-1 PacWest).
Chaminade's 12-day layoff was apparent early, going 3-for-11 from the floor in the game's first six minutes but seemed to shake off the rust with the help of an 11-2 run midway through the opening half to put the home team up 23-18. A 3-pointer from
Roman Young (Wichita, Kan./Mineral Area College/Sunrise Christian Academy) helped give the 'Swords a nine-point edge with 31 second remaining but FPU's Toby Christensen's triple right before the half chopped CUH's lead to 37-31 at halftime.
The Silverswords were not able to put the Sunbirds away in the second half and with 6:24 left, Adrian Antunez gave Fresno Pacific its first lead in over 25 minutes at 62-61. A
Morningstar Takapu (Goodyear, Ariz./Millennium) layup two possessions later put the 'Swords back in front but the lead changed hands six more times over the next two minutes.
Despite being down by five with two minutes left, Elijah Hill scored five straight for FPU and Christenson's layup with 23 second left helped force overtime.
In the extra period, Anderson broke a 79-all tie with a triple from the top of the key then after an FPU field goal on the other end, Scheive put the 'Swords up 85-81 with 1:55 left with a 3-pointer. On the ensuing Fresno Pacific possession,
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) poked the ball away from Hill, leading to his breakaway layup for an 87-81 Chaminade lead with 1:32 remaining.
After a Nate Kendricks triple made it a one-possession game (87-84) with 1:15 left, Scheive was clutch again, hitting a dagger 3 on the next Chaminade possession to help seal the game.
The 'Swords made 49.3 percent of their shots from the floor, hitting 37 of 75 shots. But in overtime, they were 6 of 9 including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Chaminade out-boarded Fresno Pacific, 40-38, and had 19 assists to FPU's eight. They also outscored the Sunbirds' bench 21-3.
The Silverswords resume PacWest action Saturday when they face interstate rival Hawai'i Hilo at McCabe Gym. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
