HONOLULU – On Tuesday morning, the Chaminade University men's basketball team learned they had regained their national ranking in the NABC Coaches Top 25 Poll.
A few hours later, the Silversword justified their place among Division II's best with a hard-fought 90-78 win over Academy of Art at McCabe Gymnasium, avenging a Jan. 2 loss in San Francisco.
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College/Marysville HS) had a team-high 22 points, tying his season-high with three 3-pointers while
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) added 21 and six rebounds to help improve the No. 22 Silverswords to 18-4 overall and 12-4 in the Pacific West Conference, a half-game ahead of Azusa Pacific for third. They also kept within a game-and-a-half of second-place Concordia Irvine which had beaten Biola earlier in the evening.
Nicholas Anderson (Anaheim, Calif./Fullerton College/Canyon HS) hit double-digits in the scoring column for the first time in over a month with 19 big and important points. He also had five boards and five assists while drilling three 3-pointers.
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State/Palo Verde HS) had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.
The ever-improving Urban Knights were led by Cobe Williams' game-high 26 points. ART U fell to 8-15 and 8-10 in the PacWest, two games behind Hawai'i Hilo for the final berth in the next month's PacWest Tournament in San Rafael, Calif. Andrija Blatancic, a teammate of current Silversword
Jake Hutchings (Las Vegas/Centennial HS) at Howard College in Texas, and the PacWest's No. 3 scorer at 18 per game, had 20.
For much of the game's first 11 minutes, the 'Swords were on the trailing end until two
Eliet Donley (Yokosuka, Japan/Hayfield, Va., HS) free throws put them ahead (19-18) for the first time since the opening minute. After the Urban Knights tied it at 22, Chaminade outscored them, 11-2, to take a 33-24 lead with Cartaino and Dressler combining for eight. The Silverswords proceeded to take a 42-36 advantage at the break.
Scheive accounted for the game's first six points of the second half while Anderson buried a 3 to put Chaminade up 51-38 two minutes in. Scheive's and-one on their next possession, his second of the half, put the 'Swords up by 14. ART U slowly ate away at the deficit but Chaminade would maintain the lead near double-digits until the Urban Knights closed to within 80-74 with 2:42 left. The 'Swords, however, scored the next seven points, hitting five shots from the line to secure the win.
Although Academy of Art shot an excellent 56.7 percent from the floor to Chaminade's 47.5, the 'Swords capitalized with 12 offensive boards which they turned into 13 second-chance points. ART U had just eight and six, respectively. The Silverswords also made 32 tries from the foul line with 26 makes. Conversely, the Urban Knights were just 7-of-12 from the foul line.
With their seven-game stand on O'ahu completed, the Silverswords now embark on arguably the most challenging part of their schedule with four games in the powerful Southern California region of the conference. All four opponents have winning records and, with the exception of Biola, are in contention for a high seed in the PacWest Tournament.
Up first is a rematch against 12th-ranked Point Loma (20-3, 16-1 PacWest) on Saturday, a game considered by NCAA.com as one of Division II's
key matchups in February. The Sea Lions handed the Silverswords a 75-71 defeat in Honolulu on Jan. 17.
