HONOLULU – Tuesday may go down as one of the best performances by the Chaminade University men's basketball team as a whole.
Back at the friendly confines of McCabe Gymnasium for a "Pink-Out Night" and facing their long-time rival Hawai'i Pacific University, six Silverswords cracked the double-digit scoring ledger in their 92-78 win.
Chaminade improved to 16-10 overall and 14-7 in the Pacific West Conference, currently sitting in fourth in the conference standings but now just a half-game behind Concordia Irvine for the third spot. The 'Swords need a win on Thursday and two Eagles losses this week to claim the No. 3 seed in next week's PacWest Championships in Azusa, Calif.
The win also secured two more points in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge for Chaminade which has won the last five meetings against HPU in the long-running series which began in 1976 and even further back when both were club sports.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the second half to help the 'Swords turn a four-point lead into a double-digit finish.
Along with 17 points,
Kendall Small (Lakewood, Calif./Pacific/Mayfair HS) had another superb all-around outing, adding six rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./Utah/Pleasant Valley), the current PacWest Freshman of the Week, added 16 points as did
Eliet Donley (Yokosuka, Japan/Hayfield, Va., HS).
Roman Young (Wichita, Kan./Mineral Area College/Sunrise Christian Academy) tallied 12 points while
Bill Awet (Sydney, Australia/SIU Edwardsville/Victory Rock Prep) contributed with 11.
And most encouraging, none of the six were named
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park), the PacWest's leading scorer who sat out with an injury, as well as
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS) who is away from the team on a personal matter.
David Rowlands, who hit four 3-pointers en-route to 18 points, paced the Sharks who fell to 10-17 and 8-13 in the PacWest.
Coming into Tuesday, HPU was in must-win mode for the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament and was coming off an impressive win at Hawai'i Hilo over the weekend. Without the services of Cartaino and Arissol, the deck was certainly stacked against CUH.
And not too surprisingly, the game was even throughout the first half. There were seven ties and four lead changes alone and the biggest lead by either squad was seven (38-31) by Chaminade in the first half. HPU managed to outscore the 'Swords 7-2 to cut the deficit to 40-38 by halftime.
Early in the second half, the Sharks got to within 44-43 on a triple by Neema Namdar with 18:18 left. Then Awet and Young stuck consecutive triples followed by a layup off a steal by Small to give CUH its largest lead up to that point at 52-43. Sure enough, the Sharks chomped back, drawing to within 52-47 on a Ronald Blain free throw. Consecutive triples by Amaral-Artharee help the 'Swords to a 15-point lead but again, HPU rallied and cut the deficit to seven (71-64) on Namdar's third 3-pointer of the game with just over nine minutes left.
But from there, the Silverswords put their foot down.
Telly Davenport (Idaho Falls, Idaho/Utah Valley/Bonneville HS), who returned after missing the last three months due to an injury, buried a jumper from the right wing which sparked a 16-4 run over the next five minutes. Kremer had five during the span while Small had four with Awet throwing down a dunk after taking a defender off the dribble. The surge put the 'Swords up, 87-68, capped by Small's old-school three-point play at the final media timeout.
Chaminade made nearly 59 percent of its shots, hitting 34-of-58 from the floor while holding HPU to 44.6 percent, more than making up being on the lower end of a 34-26 rebounding margin while being outscored, 17-2, in second chance points. The 'Swords also made it up with a whopping 65.6 field goal percentage (21 of 32) in the second half.
Amaral-Artharee was 5-of-6 in the second half while Small made three of his four shots in the final 20 minutes. Young went for 10 second-half points, hitting 4-of-5 field goals. Young and Amaral-Arthree were both 2-of-3 from long range in the second half.
The Silverswords will end the regular season Thursday against their other longtime rival, UH Hilo, at McCabe Gym. Like HPU, the Vulcans are still in the mix for the conference's final spot in the tournament and need a win to stay alive. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. Seniors Arissol, Cartaino, Donley and Small will be honored following the game.
