HONOLULU – Over the years, games between the Chaminade University and Concordia University Irvine men's basketball teams have always come down to the final minute. The latest encounter between the two on Wednesday was no different.
Zach McIntire (Delaware, Ohio/Mercyhurst University/Delaware Hayes HS) had a team-high 15 points including the go-ahead jumper with 50 seconds left to help the Silverswords down the Eagles, 69-62, in their Pacific West Conference opener at McCabe Gymnasium.
The win snapped the 'Swords' four-game losing streak, improving them to 3-4 overall.
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./University of Utah/Pleasant Valley HS) celebrated his birthday with an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double while
Kobe Young (Honolulu/Kamehameha-Kapalama) provided a huge lift with a career-high 10 points and tied his career rebounding high with four.
Wayne Arnold had a game-high 27 points for Concordia (4-4, 1-1 PacWest).
Including Wednesday's matchup and facing each other for the first time since February 2020, the last six meetings between Chaminade and Concordia were decided by single digits, a combined 28 points. The 'Swords' win also snapped a four-game skid to the Eagles dating back to January 2019.
Coming off the gauntlet of Division I heavyweights Oregon, Notre Dame and Butler at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational and Lubbock Christian, the No. 1-ranked squad in Division II, Chaminade actually roared out the gate. They scored the first seven points of the game via a 3-pointer from
Raazhel Watkins (Concordia, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) and buckets from Young and
Joseph Smoyer (Portland, Ore./Columbia University/Franklin HS). Concordia, however, had an answer and took its first lead of the game, 13-12, at the 13-minute mark.
A Smoyer free throw followed by a basket by Kremer put the 'Swords ahead at 15-13. Later, Young sparked an 8-0 run by sinking his first career triple, giving Chaminade a 28-19 edge, their largest lead of the first half although CUI closed to 34-30 at halftime.
A 10-2 run early in the second half gave the Eagles their largest lead of the game at 43-38. A bucket from
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) put Chaminade up at 44-43 with 12:55 remaining but the Eagles continued to hang around for the next nine minutes.
Arnold's jumper inside the lane knotted the score at 58 with 3:14 left, part of three ties and three lead changes over the next two minutes. Tied at 62 with 50 seconds left, McIntire spun just inside the foul line, knocking down a turnaround jumper to put the 'Swords ahead. On the ensuing possession, Wayne could not get his 29th point to fall and Chaminade proceeded to make five of its next six free throws to put the game away.
Watkins scored four of his nine points at the free throw line inside a minute while he also pulled down eight rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Tredyn Christensen (Eagle Mountain, Utah/Snow College/Westlake HS) and Amaral-Artharee had seven points each with
Paris Taylor (Bolivar, Tenn./University of Green Bay/Central HS) adding five.
The 'Swords made just under 44 percent from the floor and held Concordia to just 33.3 and just 6-of-30 from long range. CUH also dominated on the glass, 47-to-30 and had nine assists to CUI's two.
The Silverswords will play their final home game of the 2021 calendar year on Saturday against PacWest favorite Point Loma at McCabe Gym. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
