LA MIRADA, Calif. – On Tuesday the Chaminade University men's basketball overcame a 19-point second-half deficit in a dramatic win at Azusa Pacific.
On Thursday, the Silverswords faced another double-digit deficit. But this time there was little drama in the final outcome.
Chaminade overcame an early 13-point deficit then outlasted Biola down the stretch in its 84-78 win at Chase Gymnasium, securing the series sweep.
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State/Palo Verde HS) had 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Silverswords who improved to 20-5 overall and 14-5 in the Pacific West Conference. It is Chaminade's first 20-win season since 2010-11 and
Eric Bovaird's first as head coach.
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) came up huge for the 'Swords, dropping five 3-pointers for 15 points with several of his 3s snuffing out Biola rallies in the second half.
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) who earlier in the day was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team, added 16 points, which saw his seven-game streak of 20-point games coming to an end.
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College/Marysville HS) also had 16, hitting 6-of-8 from the floor.
Nicholas Anderson (Anaheim, Calif./Fullerton College/Canyon HS) contributed with nine points and four steals followed by
Jake Hutchings (Las Vegas/Howard College/Centennial HS) with five.
Biola (13-12, 9-10 PacWest) was led by Michael Bagatourian's 19 points. Meanwhile Chaminade's defense held Alex Talma, the Eagles' second-leading scorer at 12.2 points per game, scoreless for the first time this season.
The Eagles were blistering hot to start, hitting seven of their first 10 shots including 4-of-5 from 3-point range to give them a 20-7 lead six-and-a-half minutes in the game. But Arissol's first 3-ball of the night started a 22-8 run, capped by Anderson's steal and layup to put Chaminade ahead for the first time, 29-28. Arissol's second 3 of the game put the 'Swords up 38-33 with a minute left in the half before Biola cut it to 38-37 at halftime.
The Eagles committed turnovers on their first four possessions in the second half while Arissol and Dressler each hit another triples, three Dressler free throw and a three-point play from Cartaino gave the Silverswords their largest lead of the game at 50-41.
Chaminade continued to hold a nine-point advantage before Biola rallied with Alex Wright's 3-pointer reducing the lead to just 60-58 with 9:26 left. But Arissol buried his fifth trey on the 'Swords' next possession to push the lead to five. With 3:36 left, the Eagles came to within a point (72-71) but Dressler scored seven points in Chaminade's 8-0 run over the next three minutes to put away the remaining drama.
Both squads shot well from the floor with BU at 56.1 percent and CUH at 50.0. The 'Swords made 13 of 25 from long range and made 19 of 27 free throws. And while Biola was hot from beyond the arc in the first half (7 of 8), the law of averages caught up with them in the second, making just 1 of 8. The Eagles also went to the foul line just six times.
Chaminade grabbed 27 boards and had 14 assists to 28 rebounds and 17 assists for Biola with the 'Swords outpointing the Eagles, 1-4, in second-chance points. Chaminade had 10 giveaways while Biola committed 15.
The Silverswords conclude their road trip Saturday in a crucial West Region matchup at Concordia Irvine with postseason ramifications. Chaminade is No. 7 in the official West Region rankings while Concordia is 10th.
