HONOLULU – For the second straight game, the Chaminade University men's basketball team took the best from a foe near the bottom of the Pacific West Conference standings.
But like all good teams, they found a way to survive. After pulling out Monday's contest at crosstown rival Hawai'i Pacific, the Silverswords on Friday scrapped out an 80-75 win over Dominican University of California at McCabe Gymnasium.
Chaminade's 'Big 3' of
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park),
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State/Palo Verde HS) and
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College/Marysville HS) combined for 67 points in the win.
The win improved the Silverswords to 17-4 overall and 11-4 in the PacWest, just one game behind second-place Concordia. Dominican fell to 7-16 overall and 3-14 in the conference. Cedric Thomas and Christian Futch each had 17 for the Penguins.
Scheive, who was mired in a mini-slump his previous five games, exploded for a career-high 27 points and tied his career-best in rebounds with 14. The senior forward hit 10 of his 17 shots, drilled three 3-pointers and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Cartaino continued his impressive stretch, hitting for 22 points, his fourth consecutive game of 20 points or more and sixth in his last eight. The redshirt junior forward knocked down 8 of 12 shots from the floor, his ninth straight game of over 60 percent shooting to which he is 69.3 percent (70-of-101) during that span.
Meanwhile Dressler added 18 points and dished out a career-high nine assists. Like Scheive, the senior knocked down three triples.
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) chipped in with five points while
Eliet Donley (Yokosuka, Japan/Hayfield, Va.) had four.
Masa Swain (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Prep) had Chaminade's other two points.
Just four days after learning they had dropped out of the NABC Top 25 Poll for the first time in eight weeks, the 'Swords came out firing on all cylinders. Chaminade hit four of its first five shots with Scheive getting two buckets with Cartaino and Dressler each adding another to put them ahead 8-0, forcing the Penguins to call timeout.
But DUC answered with nine straight to take the lead. Cartaino's layup on the ensuing possession put the 'Swords back in front with baskets from Swain and Donley helping to extend the lead to 14-9. But over the next seven minutes, the 'Swords were unable to get a significant run until Dressler's five straight points started a 12-2 run to put the 'Swords up 40-27 with a minute left in the half. A pair of Penguin free throws made it a 40-29 game at halftime.
Dominican again made it a game, hitting eight of its first 12 shots of the second half to narrow the margin to just 48-46 six minutes in. Like in the first half, the 'Swords could never establish the knockout blow with DUC continually hanging around. Christopher Williams II's 3-pointer with 5:24 left narrowed the 'Swords' lead to just 62-61 before Scheive's six points were part of an 11-1 CUH run that put them up 73-62 with 2:43 left.
But the Penguins had one more answer. Cedric Thomas' three-point play along with a pair of triples from Williams helped Dominican close to a one-possession game (78-75) with just 17 seconds left. Single free throws by
Roman Young (Wichita, Kan./Mineral Area College/Sunrise Christian Academy) and Dressler sandwiched a crucial player-control foul against Dominican which helped keep the Penguins at bay.
Chaminade shot 48.2 percent from the floor while Dominican shot 50.8. The 'Swords held a slight edge in rebounds (33-32) while the Penguins had the same in assists (14-13) and 3-pointers (7-6). But the Silverswords forced 16 DUC giveaways, turning them into 17 points while also hitting 20 of 29 free throws. Dominican went to the line just 12 times, making eight.
The Silverswords will close out their home stand Tuesday against Academy of Art at McCabe Gym. The Urban Knights defeated the 'Swords in San Francisco on Jan. 2 and, coupled with their win at Hawai'i Hilo, moved past the Vulcans into the sixth spot for next month's PacWest Tournament.
