SAN DIEGO – In December 2016, the last time the Chaminade University and Seattle Pacific men's basketball team met on the floor, the Silverswords pulled out a last second win at McCabe Gymnasium.
Two years later, the Falcons turned the tables on 'Swords although this time the stakes were much higher.
Gavin Long hit for a team-high 21 points including a driving layup with 2 seconds remaining to give Seattle Pacific, the region's No. 2 seed and 23rd-ranked team in the NABC Division II Top 25 Poll, a 77-75 win over seventh-seeded Chaminade in the first round of the NCAA West Regional at Golden Gymnasium on the Point Loma campus.
It was a bitter conclusion of the season for the Silverswords (23-8) who led by as many as 13 midway in the second half.
Grant Dressler (Las Vegas/Sacramento State/Palo Verde HS), who earlier in the day was named to the D2CCA All-West Region Second Team, had a game-high 26 points in his final game as a 'Sword.
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) had 16 points and nine rebounds while
Erik Scheive (Marysville, Calif./Yuba College/Marysville HS) had 13 point and six boards.
Jake Hutchings (Las Vegas/Howard College/Centennial HS) added 11 points for the 'Swords.
Nicholas Anderson (Anaheim, Calif./Fullerton College/Canyon HS) had three assists in his final game as did Dressler.
Nikhil Lizotte had 19 for Seattle Pacific (22-6) which ran its winning streak to 13 and advanced to the West Region semifinals against fellow Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Saint Martin's.
Trailing 19-17 with 9:33 left in the first half, Hutchings buried a 3-pointer then knocked down another two minutes later as a part of a 14-2 Chaminade run which put them ahead 31-21 with five minutes remaining in the half. SPU responded with scoring the half's final five points to cut the 'Swords lead to 35-31 at the half.
The Falcons got to within four early in the second half but triples from
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) and Scheive along with a three-point play by Hutchings helped Chaminade keep a double-digit lead. Later, Dressler's try with 8:33 left gave the Silverswords their largest lead at 62-49.
However SPU chipped away at its deficit and eventually tied it at 73 with 1:44 left. The 'Swords missed several golden opportunities by missing a layup and two free throws inside of two minutes which kept the score tied.
Trailing 75-73, Cartaino came up with a big steal and layup which knotted the game. But on the Falcons' final possession, Long drove the right side of the lane and hit a banker to give SPU the win.
"They are very versatile," Chaminade's eighth-year head coach
Eric Bovaird said of the Falcons. "They have guys who can all knock down the 3-point shot, a lot of guys who can drive to the basket and post up. They are a very difficult matchup for us and a lot of team.
"We're a versatile team and they're a very versatile team and we give them credit. They executed down the stretch. Offensively, we were executing really, really well but in the end, we couldn't get a couple of stops when we needed to."
Chaminade shot 45.8 percent from both the floor and 3-point range and made 10 of 13 free throws. SPU made the big shots down the stretch which reflected in its 55.2 percentage in the second half, 50 percent overall. The Falcon made 9 of 23 from long distance and 12 of 14 from the free throw line.
The 'Swords had 12 assists and 13 turnovers while the Falcons dropped 15 dimes and gave the ball away 14 times. Chaminade converted those giveaways to 23 points while Seattle Pacific had 17 points of turnovers. SPU outscored Chaminade, 18-11, off the bench.
Despite the disappointing end to the season, the 'Swords had many accomplishments along the way including setting their Division II era record for wins, a 10-0 start and being nationally-ranked for much of the year.
