FRESNO, Calif. – Nothing has come easy for the Chaminade University men's basketball team this season.
Playing its third game in as many days, the Silverswords on Friday opened up a 19-point first half lead against Fresno Pacific then hung on in the second to earn a 76-73 win at the Special Events Center.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) and
Raazhel Watkins (Concord, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) each had 17 points, a season-high for the former and a career-high for the latter. Watkins also pulled down nine rebounds which is also his season high.
Chaminade earned its first win on its current trip, improving to 4-6 overall and 2-2 in the Pacific West Conference.
Joseph Smoyer (Portland, Ore./Columbia University/Franklin HS), who had his first career double-digit scoring game on Wednesday, made it two with a career-high 12 points. The 6-foot-11 graduate student also pulled down a career-high six rebounds and had four blocks, tying the career best he had at his two previous schools at Columbia University and the University of Portland.
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./University of Utah/Pleasant Valley HS) added 12 points and 13 boards, his third double-double this season.
Jelani Watson-Gayle poured in 34 points for the Sunbirds who fell to 7-3 and 1-3 in the PacWest.
The 'Swords got field goals from four of their starters while hitting five of their first seven shots to take an 11-0 lead by the first media timeout.
A layup from
Sawyer Storms (Idaho Falls, Idaho/College of Southern Idaho/Idaho Falls HS) extended Chaminade's lead to 32-13 at the 5:26 mark, its largest of the half. But Watson-Gayle's triple at the buzzer was part of FPU's half-ending 13-2 FPU run, cutting the 'Swords' lead to just 34-26 at the break.
The Silverswords opened up a pair of nine-point advantages early in the second half and would stay in front throughout although FPU clawed back to twice get into single possessions on a pair of Nate Kendricks baskets, the last at 64-62 with 4:52 left. The 'Swords would stave off the next five Sunbird chances to tie or take the lead including Kremer's rejection of Kendrick's layup attempt with just under four minutes left.
Smoyer and Watkins combined for Chaminade's next five points to build their lead back to seven (69-62) with 93 second remaining although Watson-Gayle hit his seventh and eighth triples inside 20 seconds left to make the score closer than it was.
The 'Swords, who are normally one of the PacWest's top scoring teams but were averaging an uncharacteristic 57.3 points entering Friday, had their second-highest scoring game of the season, only behind the 77 in their season opener against Alaska on Nov. 13. They also had their second-highest shooting percentage game of the year, making 45.8 percent of their shots (27-of-59) and going to the free throw line 21 times with 16 makes.
Chaminade managed to survive Fresno Pacific's shooting barrage of 11 triples by holding them to just under 38 percent shooting from the floor. The 'Swords also hammered the Sunbirds on the glass with a 49-to-28 advantage, equating to an 18-to-7 edge in second-chance scoring.
The Silverswords will get a much-needed day off on Saturday then conclude their road trip Sunday against Academy of Art. The game will be at the Conlan Center on the Dominican University of California campus after ARTU's normal facility, the Walter Gleason Gymnasium on the Notre Dame de Namur campus, was damaged due to the recent heavy storms in the area. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Pacific (1:30 p.m. Hawaiian).
