HONOLULU – In their first game of 2020, the Chaminade University men's basketball team was back on the floor for the first time in 14 days.
The Silverswords made up for the two weeks of inactivity Saturday with one of the longest games in school history when they faced Biola at McCabe Gymnasium on a cool, drizzly day.
When the rain let up and smoke cleared, it was the Eagles who outlasted the 'Swords, 113-107, in an exhausting quadruple overtime thriller.
Eliet Donley (Yokosuka, Japan/Hayfield, Va., HS) and
Kendall Small (Lakewood, Calif./Pacific/Mayfair HS) each poured in career-highs of 23 points before both fouled out in the extra sessions for the Silverswords who fell to 6-5 overall and 4-2 in the Pacific West Conference.
According to available records, it is the first-ever four-overtime game in school history. Chaminade had triple OT games in January 2005 and February 1988, both coming against Hawai'i Pacific University.
It is also the first Division II quadruple-overtime game this season and the third overall in the NCAA, division-wide. Coincidently, Division I also had its first four-OT game on Saturday (St. Mary's at Pacific) while there was one in D-III (Whitewater at Beloit) in December.
The game lasted 2 hours and 34 minutes, one of the longest in terms of elapsed time.
Michael Bagatourian had 27 points and 15 rebounds while playing a staggering 56 minutes for Biola which improved to 9-4 overall and 5-2 in the PacWest.
Teammate Chris Rossow proved to be the Eagle who flew the highest, however. Rossow sent the game into triple overtime with his floater at the buzzer then applied the game-clinching 3-pointer to beat the shot clock, giving Biola a six-point lead with just 10 seconds left in the final overtime.
For Chaminade
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) scored 21 for the 'Swords, 19 in the second half and overtime while
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) had 17 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./Utah/Pleasant Valley HS) had eight points and nine boards for the 'Swords.
Donley also posted a career-high nine rebounds, eight coming on the offensive end. He also made all 10 of his free throw tries before picking up his fifth personal foul late in the first overtime.
Small hit 11 of his 18 shots and had seven boards before he also fouled out in the waning seconds of the second OT.
Chaminade, which trailed most of the game, faced a 38-29 halftime deficit before clawing its way back. A 3-ball by Arissol gave the 'Swords a 74-73 lead with 3:18 left in regulation, their first lead since 1-0 a minute in. Small's bucket with 50 seconds left sent the game into the first overtime.
The first five-minute session proved sloppy with seven combined turnovers. BU had four including three on consecutive possessions while the biggest one by CUH was an offensive foul by Donley which put him on the bench for the rest of the game.
Chaminade seemed to take control early in the second overtime with seven combined points from Arissol and
Roman Young (Wichita, Kan./Mineral Area College/Sunrise Christian Academy), putting the home team up by six. The Eagles inched to within a point before Arissol's jumper put Chaminade up 94-91 with 1:21 left. But a missed free throw with 3 seconds left put Chaminade up by two, opening the door for the Eagles. Biola fired a line-drive bounce pass on the ensuing inbounds where Russow picked up the ball on a dead sprint near midcourt then hit a floater inside the 3-point arc from the right elbow which hit front-iron, bounced high off the glass and into the net at the buzzer, sending the game into a third overtime.
From there, Biola's Marquise Mosely accounted for all eight of his team's points including the tying bucket with 32 seconds left which forced a fourth extra session.
Mosley kept his hot hand going, scoring five of Biola's first seven points in overtime No. 4 to help expand its lead to 108-104 with 2:24 left. Kremer hit a corner 3 on Chaminade's next possession to close within a point but Alex Wright hit a big shot for BU to up its advantage back to 110-97 with 50 seconds left. The 'Swords couldn't get the tying 3-pointer on its next possession but still had a glimmer of hope with 41 second left, provided they could get a defensive stop. However hope faded when Russow splashed a left-wing 3-ball before the shot clock expired to give the Eagles an insurmountable six-point lead with just 10 seconds left.
Chaminade attempted 91 shots, making 39 for a near-43 percent from the floor while Biola made 51.9 of its shots. Free throws haunted the 'Swords, making just 19-of-28 while the Eagles went 22-of-26 from the charity stripe. The Silverswords out-crashed them on the boards, 52-42, and dominated in second-chance points at 22-10.
The loss snapped the 'Swords' five-game home winning streak dating back to January of last year.
The Silverswords are back in action Monday when they host Fresno Pacific at McCabe Gym. Tipoff is an hour earlier than usual at 5:30 p.m.
