HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team made two firsts on Wednesday. Not only was it their first home game of the season, it was also their first Pacific West Conference game.
They couldn't have asked for a better start to both.
Facing nationally-ranked Azusa Pacific, one of the PacWest favorites, the Silveswords got a monster performance from senior wing
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) and another career day from forward
Eliet Donley (Yokosuka, Japan/Hayfield, Va., HS) to lead them to a 96-85 win at McCabe Gymnasium.
Cartaino poured in a career-high 36 points, hitting 12-of-19 shots from the floor and making 12 of his 14 free throws while also pulling down seven rebounds.
Donley also established a career-high with 14 points on the night. Three of his five made baskets were beyond the 3-point arc, also a career-high and his first triple since his sophomore season.
Chaminade, coming off three games against Power 5 schools Kansas, UCLA and Georgia at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, evened its record to 3-3 on the year and 1-0 in the conference. The 'Swords are a perfect 3-0 against Division II competition this season.
Azusa Pacific, ranked 24th in the NABC Coaches Poll and 19th in the D2SIDA Media Poll, dropped its second straight game, falling to 5-3 overall and 0-2 in the PacWest. The Cougars were led by Alaska Anchorage transfer Brennan Rymer, who had 21 points.
Cartaino's 36 is the most by a 'Sword since Kiran Shastri also had 36 at BYU-Hawai'i on Dec. 19, 2016.
Other Chaminade contributors were
Kendall Small (Lakewood, Calif./Pacific/Mayfair HS) who had 12 points and six assists, 10 points and five rebounds from
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) while
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) had a season-high nine points.
All eight 'Swords who saw the floor made at least one field goal.
Chaminade shot 55 percent from the floor including a blistering 66.7 (16-of-24) in the second half. Although being out-rebounded, 39-35, and out-assisted, 19-17, the 'Swords feasted at the charity stripe, making 24 of 29 from the line.
Their defense also rendered forward Selom Mawugbe, the Preseason PacWest Player of the Year, to being a non-factor with five points, seven rebounds and no blocks before fouling out with three minutes remaining. Mawugbe averaged just under 17 points, 11 rebounds and nearly four blocks entering Wednesday.
The 'Swords quickly jumped to a 9-2 lead on shots by Small and Cartaino as well as Donley's first 3-pointer of the year. Chaminade maintained its lead throughout the rest of the first half although the Cougars hovered near deficits of four to five and never trailed by more than nine in the first 20 minutes.
A short jumper by Arissol early in the second half gave the Silverswords their first double-digit lead at 51-41. After a Rymer score cut the lead back to single digits,
Bill Awet's (Sydney, Australia/SIU Edwardsville/Victory Rock Prep, Fla., HS) field goal put Chaminade ahead by double digits again, this time for good. The 'Swords lead by as many as 20 at the midway point of the second half, although the Cougars fought back valiantly, cutting the deficit to 87-78 with a minute, 42 seconds left.
Chaminade made seven of its final eight free throws to keep the game out of reach.
The 'Swords outscored the Cougars, 50-36, in the paint and converted 15 APU giveaways to 18 points. They also out-pointed them, 34-4, on fast-break points.
The Silverswords are back on the road to end the calendar year, making a four-game swing in the Bay Area. They open the trip on Sunday, Dec. 15 at Academy of Art.
