SAN DIEGO – The Chaminade University men's basketball team opened their Southern California road trip Thursday at Point Loma, a makeup of the Dec. 4 contest in Honolulu that was postponed due to Pacific West Conference health and safety protocols.
And although
Sawyer Storms (Idaho Falls, Idaho/College of Southern Idaho/Idaho Falls HS) made just one field goal against the Sea Lions, it came at the absolute perfect time.
The sophomore forward buried an open-look straightaway 3-pointer with 8 seconds left to lift the Silverswords to a thrilling 73-71 win at Golden Gymnasium, their first of five games in the conference's Southern California region.
The 'Swords won their third straight which brought them back to .500 at 8-8 while improving to 6-4 in the PacWest.
Zach McIntire (Delaware, Ohio/Mercyhurst University/Delaware Hayes HS) had a season-high 21 points for Chaminade, hitting five of his eight 3-point tries.
Raazhel Watkins (Concord, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) had 17 points, hitting 7 of his 12 jumpers including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. The redshirt junior guard also had five assists, the final one accounting for Storms' winner.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) also had 17 for the 'Swords while dishing out four assists.
Paris Taylor (Bolivar, Tenn./University of Wisconsin Green Bay/Central HS) added 11 points, going 4-for-6 from the floor and hitting all three of his free throws.
Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif./University of Utah/Pleasant Valley HS) pulled down a team-best eight rebounds in the win.
Point Loma (9-8, 5-4 PacWest), which saw its three-game winning streak and three-game home win streak stopped, were led by last year's PacWest Player of the Year Kaden Anderson who had 23 points.
In the first half, the 'Swords twice trailed by seven twice and led just once, 28-27, on a Taylor dunk. Down 35-28 late in the first half, Watkins hit a 3, then found McIntire on a perfectly executed alley-oop layup right before the halftime horn to cut the 'Swords' deficit to 37-33 at the half.
The final 20 minutes was a virtual replay of the first where the Sea Lions led for most of the second half, taking a 50-43 edge at the 13-minute mark. The 'Swords would hang around and chip away at the deficit, answering each Point Loma score.
Taylor twice forced ties including a thunderous dunk at the 7:28 mark, which was part of a three-point play, knotting the game at 60. From there, McIntire took over, scoring all eight of the 'Swords' points in a 90-second span which put them up, 70-66, with 2:36 left.
The Sea Lions rallied and Ben Okhotin's corner 3 put them up 71-70 with 1:29 remaining. Then on Chaminade's final possession and trailing 71-70, Watkins drove the left side of the lane and tossed a kick-out pass to the top of the key to a wide-open Storms, who in turned splashed his first field goal of the game to put the 'Swords up with 8 second left.
Point Loma had one final chance but Anderson's potential game-winning 3 was off the mark to give Chaminade an important road win.
The 'Swords finished with a 44.3 percent shooting percentage including 11-of-23 from long range and making all eight free throws. They pulled down 35 rebounds, dished out 17 assists and committed nine turnovers.
Point Loma shot 43.3 percent and was 8-of-25 from triples territory. They had 33 boards and 13 assists with six turnovers.
The Silverswords will be at Biola on Saturday.
