IRVINE, Calif. – Three Chaminade University men's basketball players were honored Wednesday, being selected by the Pacific West Conference coaches as some of the best in the conference.
Tyler Cartaino (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) was named to the All-PacWest First Team while
Kendall Small (Lakewood, Calif./Pacific/Mayfair HS) earned second team honors as well as Defender of the Year.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) was named the Freshman of the Year.
Cartaino, a 6-6 senior wing, was named to the first team for the second consecutive year after leading the PacWest at a 20.8 points per game scoring clip, the only player in the conference to average over 20 a game. He also ended the regular season fourth in field goal percentage (55.2) despite missing the final three games of the regular season due to an injury.
In his only year as a Silversword, Small was everything he was envisioned to be after he transferred from Division I University of the Pacific. The 6-foot senior point guard was second in the conference in assists at 4.8 and actually led in total assists with 130 while provided scoring punch with a 14-point average. On Dec. 19 at Notre Dame de Namur, he turned the team's first triple-double (12 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) in nearly 11 years.
The PacWest's steals leader at 2.1 per game, Small's quickness and defensive savvy helped the 'Swords lead the conference in steals (9.33) while finishing second in turnovers forced (16.3). They also surrendered 72.4 points per game, the fewest in
Eric Bovaird's nine-year tenure as head coach.
After being named the PacWest Freshman of the Week a conference-high five times, it was probably no surprise that Amaral-Artharee would be voted the conference's freshman of the year. The 6-2 guard posted a 9.3 points-per-game average this season but came on strong towards the end of the year by averaging 12.4 points in his final eight games. He started the 'Swords' final three regular season contests and hit double-digits in all three including a season-high-tying 18 against Hawai'i Pacific on Feb. 25 followed by a 17-point outing two days later against Hawai'i Hilo in the final regular season game of the season.
Azusa Pacific's Selom Mawugbe was named the Player of the Year while Newcomer of the Year went to Point Loma's Darnell Robateau. Peter Bond of APU was the Coach of the Year.
Chaminade (17-10) begins postseason action Thursday as the No. 3 seed in the PacWest Championships at the Felix Event Center in Azusa, Calif., when they face sixth-seeded Academy of Art. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. Hawai'i time (5 p.m. local). The winner gets No. 2 seed Point Loma on Thursday.
