HONOLULU – When the Chaminade University men's basketball team faced Academy of Art in the finale of their Bay Area road trip last Dec. 19, not only did the Urban Knights lay down a 23-point rout – Chaminade's largest margin of defeat against them – it also completed a rare three-loss trip to Northern California.
On Monday, the Silverswords completed their revenge tour.
Four players scored in double-digits, led by
Isaac Amaral-Artharee's (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) 19 points as Chaminade avenged the loss with an 84-78 victory over ART U at McCabe Gymnasium.
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./University of Utah/Pleasant Valley HS), who was held scoreless Saturday, exploded for 18 points, hitting 7 of 10 shots from the floor including three 3-pointers.
Raazhel Watkins (Concord, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) and
Zach McIntire (Delaware, Ohio/Mercyhurst University/Delaware Hayes HS) added 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Chaminade (7-8 overall, 5-4 Pacific West Conference) completed its home stand by defeating all three of the teams they lost to in the Bay Area; Holy Names, Dominican and ART U to salvage series splits.
Joshua Bagley led Academy of Art (10-7, 6-3 PacWest) with 16 points.
The 'Swords were able to stave off the Urban Knights despite committing 24 turnovers. It included a bizarre sequence starting at the 11-minute, 18-second mark of the first half where they turned the ball over on consecutive inbound passes leading to two ART U layups, prompting CUH to burn all of its 30-second timeouts which gave the visitors a 19-15 lead. Chaminade then turned it over for a third straight possession without crossing the midcourt line but managed to force a missed 3-point.
Kremer helped settle them down by hitting an 18-foot pull-up jumper on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to 19-17 and buckets from McIntire and Amaral-Artharee put the 'Swords back in front at 21-19. Chaminade then went on a press-breaking dunk-fest, getting two flushes from McIntire and one from
Paris Taylor (Bolivar, Tenn./University of Wisconsin Green Bay/Central HS) which extended to a 31-23 lead with 6:22 left in the half.
The Urban Knights forged three ties late in the half but Watkins drilled a triple with a minute left to give Chaminade a 40-37 halftime edge.
With the Silverswords hanging on to a 53-50 lead midway through the second half, Kremer buried a 3 which started a 10-0 run, capped by a steal and breakaway dunk by
Sawyer Storms (Idaho Falls, Idaho/College of Southern Idaho/Idaho Falls HS) to give them their largest lead of the game at 63-50.
Academy of Art managed to get to within five at 73-68 with 2:38 left but Kremer got a three-point play on CUH's next possession followed by an Amaral-Artharee layup 20 second later to push their lead back to 10. The Urban Knights made one more push, drawing to within 78-73 but McIntire's layup with 56 seconds left helped seal the win.
Chaminade shot 50.8 percent (30-of-59) from the floor, shooting over 50 percent for the second consecutive game, a first this season. They also sank 7-of-16 triples and made 17 of 29 from the charity stripe. The 'Swords had 45 rebounds and 15 assists.
Academy of Art made just 38.8 percent (31-of-80) of its shots including just 7-of-31 from behind the arc. They had 44 boards, 16 assists and 17 giveaways.
The Silverswords will open up five-game road swing to Southern California on Thursday at Point Loma. It is a makeup from the Dec. 4 contest in Honolulu which was postponed because of health and safety protocols.
