ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Chaminade University men's basketball team made a successful regular season debut Saturday with a strong second half showing as they raced past the University of Alaska, 90-64, at the PacWest/GNAC Challenge at the Alaska Airlines Center auxiliary court.
All five starters reached double-digits led by
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park), who eight days earlier put on a show in front of the Division I Hawai'i crowd at the Stan Sheriff Center, dazzled again with a game-high 19 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the floor along with six rebounds and five assists.
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) had 13 points while
Telly Davenport (Idaho Falls, Idaho/College of Southern Idaho/Bonneville HS) and senior newcomer
Kendall Small (Lakewood, Calif./Pacific/Mayfair HS) both had 11.
It was also a big day for
Eliet Donley (Yokosuka, Japan/Hayfield) who set career highs with 10 points, eight rebounds and two assists, making 4-of-6 shots from the floor.
Redshirt freshman
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) made his collegiate debut with eight points and three dimes.
Chaminade (1-0) outscored the Nanooks (0-1), 44-30, in the second half and allowed them to shoot just 31.1 percent (19 of 61) from the field. The 'Swords shot 51.4 percent including 60 percent (18 of 30) in the second half. Of their 37 made field goals, 30 were via assists, the most by a Silversword team since February 2008.
Alaska was led by 19 points from Shadeed Shabazz.
The Silverswords led 36-29 with 4:22 remaining but
Roman Young's (Wichita, Kansas/Mineral Area College/Sunrise Christian Academy) driving layup and Amaral-Artharee's free throw helped build their lead to double-digits for the remainder of the game.
Chaminade opened the second half with an 11-2 run with Cartaino accounting for seven of its points which built the lead to 21 at 57-36. Alaska could get no closer to 15 as the 'Swords' cruised the rest of the way.
Their 30 assists is the most since Feb. 20, 2008 when they had 33 against Hawai'i Hilo. The 'Swords also hammered the Nanooks on the glass, outrebounding them 49-29.
The Silverswords conclude the Challenge on Sunday when they face host Alaska Anchorage which defeated Hawai'i Pacific in Saturday's nightcap. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
