HONOLULU – Forty-eight hours after dropping their first home game of the year and needing a win against a squad that has had their number the past two years, the 19th-ranked Chaminade University men's basketball team on Saturday survived a 79-76 thriller over Concordia Irvine at McCabe Gymnasium.
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State/Palo Verde HS), whose 5-for-23 shooting night against No. 11 Point Loma on Thursday was one of the worst of his career, redeemed himself with a blistering 12-for-18 from the field including 5-for-7 from 3-point range to give him a career-high 34 points.
The Silverswords improved to 14-3 overall and 8-3 in the Pacific West Conference and trail the Eagles (13-7, 9-2) by just a game in the PacWest standings at the midway point of the conference season.
Brian Chambers led the Eagles with 24 points.
The win was just the second over Concordia since the Eagles became a PacWest member in 2015. It also snapped a three-game skid to CUI.
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) added 19 points and nine rebounds while hitting 8 of 12 shots from the floor.
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College/Marysville HS) contributed with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Along with eight points,
Nicholas Anderson (Anaheim, Calif./Fullerton College/Canyon HS) dished out five assists with
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) adding five points.
Concordia managed to grab a seven-point lead four times in the first half before Chaminade rallied to take the lead when Dressler accounted for all 10 of the Silverswords' points on four consecutive shots, part of a 12-2 run. A layup by a driving Chambers with just three seconds left knotted the game at 24 at intermission.
The 'Swords managed to maintain the lead in the second half but could never pull away which enabled the Eagles to inch closer and finally take the lead midway through.
After a basket from Geoff Gerlach which put CUI ahead 58-56 with 9:32 left, Chaminade got the big run they were looking for. Dressler s eight points during a 14-0 surge over the next 3:38 put the home team ahead 70-58.
Concordia, however, did not go away as a 15-4 run got them to within 74-73 with just 1:28 left. But on the ensuing Chaminade possession, Arissol corralled an offensive board then drove the baseline for his second field goal of the game to give the home team a 76-73 cushion which became 77-73 on a Dressler free throw with 32 seconds left.
On the other end, Robert Taylor's three-point play cut the deficit back to just one. The 'Swords left a small crack for Concordia by making just two of their next four free throws which kept it to a precarious one-possession game. With just three seconds left, Chambers' pull-up 3 from 27 feet out for the tying basket clanked off the glass. Kayle Knuckles retrieved the offensive rebound in the left corner and his desperation 3-pointer barely grazed iron as the buzzer sounded.
The 'Swords shot 55.6 percent in the game including 68.2 from the floor in the second half. The Eagles shot 51.6 percent but were held to 48.6 in the final 20 minutes. Chaminade out-rebounded Concordia, 30-28, and made 14-of-18 free throws while CUI made only five trips to the line, making three.
The Silverswords are next in action on Monday, Jan. 28, when they host Azusa Pacific at McCabe.
