BELMONT, Calif. – The Chaminade University men's basketball team got several impressive individual performances against Notre Dame de Namur on Thursday at the Walter Gleason Gymnasium, highlighted by a feat not accomplished in nearly 11 years.
Five Silverswords reached double-digits in the scoring tab with yet another big outing from their leading scorer and a near-perfect shooting night from a freshman newcomer. But it was their point guard who grabbed the headlines.
Kendall Small (Lakewood, Calif./Pacific/Mayfair HS) recorded a triple-double of 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the 'Swords to a 104-52 rout over the Argonauts. Not only is it the senior's first career triple-double but the first by a Silversword since Jan. 24, 2009 by Noah Gottlieb.
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) went for 25 points, making 10-of-13 shots from the floor while redshirt freshman
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./Utah/Pleasant Valley HS) had a season-high 20 points and 10 boards, making 8-of-9 shots. His only miss was a 3-point try late in the game.
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) added 14 points with four 3-pointers while
Bill Awet (Sydney, Australia/SIU Edwardsville/Victory Rock Prep, Fla., HS) had 10 and seven boards.
Chaminade improved to 5-4 on the year and 3-1 in the Pacific West Conference.
The Argonauts were led by Ajay Singh's 20 points as they fell to 2-9 and 1-3 in the conference.
In previous seasons, the 'Swords had come close to triple-doubles but were never able to complete it. Austin Pope came close twice during the 2017-18 season (13 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists vs. Hawai'i Hilo; 13-9-8 at Hawai'i Pacific) while Kuany Kuany and Rohndell Goodwin were shy in the assist category in the same game against Cal State San Marcos on Nov. 28, 2015 (Kuany 16-11-9, Goodwin 20-11-8).
At halftime, Small had 10 points, seven boards and two assists so the prospect of a triple-double seemed far-fetched. But he dropped five dimes in the first 10 minutes of the second half to give him a chance. Small pulled down his 10th rebound at the 4:11 mark of the game then got his eighth and ninth assists on consecutive possessions during the next 30 seconds. His magic 10th assist came with a minute, 39 seconds left when he found Kremer cutting to the basket for a layup. He got another for good measure, finding
Kobe Young (Honolulu/Kamehameha-Kapalama) along the baseline for an and-one play, three of Young's season-high four points.
Small's 11 assists were also the most by a 'Sword since Lee Bailey's 11 against BYU-Hawai'i in March 2014.
As for the game itself, Chaminade led wire-to-wire. Cartaino's layup at the 13:53 mark of the first half gave the 'Swords a double-digit lead they would not relinquish. Every Silversword on the travel roster saw at least six minutes of floor time and had at least two points.
Chaminade shot a whopping 55.9 percent (38-of-68) from the floor, a season-high, including nearly 60 percent in the first half. The 'Swords were also efficient from long range, hitting 13 of 25 attempts for 52 percent, all season highs. They out-rebounded the Argos, 48-25, and of their 38 buckets, assisted on 25 of them.
NDNU shot just 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the floor including a paltry 4-of-25 (16 percent) from distance. They also committed 20 giveaways.
It is Chaminade's highest scoring game this season while the 52-point margin of victory is the most since a 65-point win on New Year's Eve 2016 over Northwest Indian College (132-67).
The Silverswords conclude their Bay Area road trip Saturday at Dominican.
