RIVERSIDE, Calif. – For the first 25 minutes, it appeared that the Chaminade University men's basketball team had solved their road woes in the middle of their difficult Southern California road swing.
However the Silverswords could not sustain the momentum in the final 15 as 20
th-ranked California Baptist rallied for a 90-76 win on its Senior Night Thursday at the new CBU Event Center.
Chaminade led by five at halftime but a key 23-4 CBU run midway through the second half denied the 'Swords in what will likely be the final regular season meeting between the two programs before the Lancers depart for the Division I ranks.
Austin Pope (Burbank, Calif./North Idaho College) led Chaminade with 18 points while
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State) added 15.
Brett Reed (Houston/Cabrillo College) tallied his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Justin Bridges (Atlanta/Georgia Highlands College) had 10 points and six boards.
Chaminade (14-10 overall, 9-8 Pacific West Conference) lost its third straight and sixth of its last eight contests. The defeat also created a three-way tie with Academy of Art and Hawai'i Pacific University for the sixth and final spot in next month's PacWest Tournament which will also be held at the Event Center. All three squads have three games remaining.
The Lancers, who debuted at No. 2 in the West Region rankings on Wednesday, got a season-high 29 points from junior guard Jordan Heading who helped six CBU seniors celebrate their final regular season home game with a win by hitting 12 of his 24 shots from the floor. CBU improved to 21-4 and 14-3 in the conference.
CBU enjoyed no more than a seven-point lead in the first half. Down 38-33 with 5 minutes left, Dressler had five points including a 3-pointer to square the game at 38. Later,
Dantley Walker (Panaca, Nev./UNLV) hit a running floater to put the visitors up by two then Pope's old-school three-point play helped give the 'Swords a 45-40 halftime lead.
Chaminade continued to stay ahead and a layup by
Braden Koelliker (Kaysville, Utah/Colorado State) put them up 58-53 five minutes through the second half.
But things started going south from there. The Lancers made five straight shots, including three 3-pointers, without a miss to turn the deficit to an eight-point lead. It was part of the 23-4 spurt over a six-minute stretch that helped to decide the outcome.
Although both teams shot under 50 percent, Chaminade was just 39.4 in the second half to CBU's 52.5. Both teams had 41 boards but the Lancers had 18 assists to seven turnovers while CUH had six assists to 12 giveaways.
CBU also buried 14 triples while Chaminade had seven, three by Dressler.
The Silverswords will look to salvage their four-game SoCal trip Saturday at new conference member Biola. Despite sitting in the bottom half of the PacWest standings, the Eagles have won five of their last eight decisions. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs in what is likely a critical game for Chaminade's postseason chances.
