HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team wrapped up the 2019-20 regular season in style Thursday with an 88-72 win over the University of Hawai'i Hilo at McCabe Gymnasium.
Like they did Tuesday against their other island, Hawai'i Pacific University, the Silverswords got balanced scoring, led by senior forward
Eliet Donley (Yokosuka, Japan/Hayfield, Va., HS) who went off for a career-high 28 points, hitting 11-of-15 shots from the field, in his final home game.
Fellow senior
Kendall Small (Lakewood, Calif./Pacific/Mayfair HS), who is in his only year as a 'Sword after stops at the University of the Pacific and the University of Oregon, added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Silverswords end the regular season at 17-10 overall and 15-7 in the Pacific West Conference. Thanks to Concordia Irvine's loss at Biola earlier in the day, Chaminade is still in the hunt for the No. 3 seed in next week's PacWest Tournament in Azusa, Calif. Concordia hosts conference champion Azusa Pacific, winners of 19 straight, on Saturday. An Eagles loss gives the 'Swords the third seed but a Concordia upset over APU would mean Chaminade gets the No. 4 seed and a date against Biola in the tournament's opening round.
Chaminade also got another solid contribution from freshman
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) who had 17 points – all in the second half – and a career-high seven rebounds.
Bill Awet (Sydney, Australia/SIU Edwardsville/Victory Rock Prep, Fla., HS) flashed his inside-outside game with a pair of thunderous dunks and two 3-pointers for 11 points and two blocked shots.
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./Utah/Pleasant Valley HS) and
Roman Young (Wichita, Kan./Mineral Area College/Sunrise Christian Academy) each had six points. Kremer had a team-high eight rebounds while Young dished out a team-high five assists.
All of this without the PacWest's top scorer
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park), who missed his third straight game with an injury, and leading 3-point shooter
Andre Arissol (Northampton, England/Otero JC/Charnwood HS), who remains away from the team due to a family emergency.
The Vulcans (11-14, 9-12 PacWest) were led by former Silversword Kaleb Gilmore's 23 points. Despite the loss, UH Hilo is still alive for the conference's sixth and final spot in the tournament after Academy of Art, their only competition for the lone remaining berth, lost to Point Loma earlier in the day. The Vulcans must beat Hawai'i Pacific at The Shark Tank on Saturday and hope for an ART U loss against Notre Dame de Namur to extend their season.
Chaminade led wire-to-wire, scoring the game's first seven points. UH Hilo trimmed the deficit to a deuce twice in the first half although the 'Swords still led 38-31 at halftime.
The Silverswords seemed on the verge of pulling away midway through the second half but Gilmore, who wore a Chaminade uniform during the 2015-16 and '16-17 seasons, scored eight straight to slice the lead to 62-56 with 9:03 remaining. Amaral-Artharee got the 'Swords' ship righted with a fast-break layup but a dunk by Kupaa Harrison brought UH Hilo to within 64-58. However Amaral-Artharee hit another triple then Donley, a former walk-on who transformed into a legitimate all-conference candidate this season, got the next three points, part of a 13-5 run which put Chaminade up 77-63 with 3:37 remaining.
After missing all seven of his first-half shots, Amaral-Artharee came up big in the final 20 minutes, making five of his nine tries including three 3-pointers.
Chaminade shot over 55 percent in both halves for a game percentage of 55.9. Conversely, they held the Vulcans to just 43.5 percent. The Silverswords also hammered UH Hilo on the glass, 44-25 and 18 of their 33 field goals were assisted.
The win over the Vulcans also meant that the 'Swords swept the men's basketball portion of the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge for the second consecutive year.
The Silverswords will find out late Saturday afternoon who their first-round opponent in the PacWest Tournament will be. Their first game will be on Thursday, May 5.
