HONOLULU – No
Tyler Cartaino. No
Kendall Small. No
Eliet Donley. No
Andre Arissol. No problem.
After a two-month wait exacerbated by another week of delay, the Chaminade University men's basketball team finally saw action for the first time in the unique 2020-21 season Saturday.
The Silverswords made it worth the wait with a resounding 97-76 win over Hawai'i Hilo at McCabe Gymnasium, led by
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./Utah/Pleasant Valley HS) who matched career highs with 20 points and 11 rebounds in his first career start. The redshirt sophomore made eight of his 12 field goal attempts, including all four 3-pointers to lead all scorers.
Meanwhile newcomer,
Jessiya Villa (Martinsburg, W. Va./Hawai'i/Kahuku HS, Hawai'i), the former Hawai'i high school Player of the Year who transferred from Division I Hawai'i, sparkled in his collegiate debut, adding 17 points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic), last year's Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Year, added 16 points in the win. Newcomers
DeRay Seamster (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) and
Malik Parsons (San Diego/Wenatchee Valley College/Lincoln HS) had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Not bad for a squad that lost 78 percent of their scoring from a year ago.
UH Hilo (2-1) was led by Sasa Vuksanovic and Darren Williams, who had 14 points each in being handed its first loss of the season.
The Vulcans opened up an early 10-4 lead, thanks to their ability to break the 'Swords' press. But Kremer hit two field goals while Villa and Seamster each had one to forge a 12-all tie. With the Silverswords holding a 33-28 lead after a Vuksanovic jam, Villa and Amaral-Artharee accounted for eight points each in a half-ending 21-7 run to put them up 54-37 at the break.
Kremer buried consecutive 3s to help open up a 21-point lead in the opening minutes of the second half and the 'Swords never looked back.
Chaminade made 47.4 percent of its shots including 11-of-22 from 3-point range while UH Hilo was just 5-of-23 from outside the arc. The 'Swords held the rebounding edge, 48-45, while both squads dished out 14 assists.
The teams will face each other again on Sunday with a 3 p.m. tipoff time.
