LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Chaminade University men's basketball team's marquee win is, and always will be, Virginia in 1982.
However, it was victories over Louisville in the two subsequent years (83-72 in '83; 67-65 in '84) that – as former guard Mark Rodrigues, a member of that team, told NCAA.com on Wednesday – validated college basketball's biggest upset of all time.
On Thursday, almost 40 years later, the Silverswords nearly did it to the Cardinals again.
Chaminade led with just six minutes remaining before Louisville of the ACC rallied to claim an 80-73 win at the KFC Yum! Center.
Braden Olsen (West Linn, Ore./Gannon University/West Linn HS) had 19 of his team-high 27 points for the Silverswords in the second half while
Jalen Brattain (Shallowater, Texas/Lubbock Christian Univ./Shallowater HS) added 18 as Chaminade fell to 0-2 on their Midwest exhibition road swing.
El Ellis led Louisville with 28 points and did most of his damage at the free throw line, hitting 13 of 18 shots.
Although the Silverswords again struggled from 3-point range, making just five of their 27 tries, Olsen sank three of them on six attempts. And like they did Tuesday at Ohio State, the 'Swords managed to keep up with their taller and more athletically gifted Division I counterparts by being out-rebounded by a mere 47-to-41 edge. Chaminade also out-crashed Louisville on the offensive boards by an 18-to-14 count, outscoring them 20-14 in second-chance points.
Olsen, the graduate transfer from Gannon University, hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring with
Raazhel Watkins (Concord, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) and Brattain keeping Chaminade in front with field goals of their own. Louisville eventually went ahead and led 26-22 when Olsen buried a triple with 5 minutes, 47 seconds left. But the Cardinals went on a 16-7 run to close out the first half to take a 42-32 lead at the break.
But Chaminade came out of halftime on a 16-0 surge capped by Brattain's thunderous jam, giving them their largest lead of the game at 50-44 with just under 15 minutes remaining. Olsen accounted for 10 of them, scoring eight points with the assist to Brattain.
After Louisville answered to tie it at 50 – four points from the free throw line – the 'Swords retook the lead at 52-50 with Olsen's 10-footer followed by a triple from
Ross Reeves (Orem, Utah/Snow College/Orem HS) to give Chaminade a 55-50 cushion with 11:39 left. Later, another Brattain flush and two free throws from
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) gave the 'Swords leads of 63-60 and 65-64, respectively, the latter at the 6:17 mark, which proved to be their final time ahead in the scoreboard.
After Louisville jumped back infront, Olsen tied it at 67 with two free throws with 4:42 remaining. However, Ellis took control at the foul line, hitting seven of his nine trips as the Cardinals pulled away down the stretch.
In all, Louisville was 26-of-32 from the free throw line while Chaminade went to the line 17 times, making 12. The 'Swords made 37.3 percent from the field with the Cardinals shooting at a 39 percent clip.
Amaral-Artharee contributed nine points for Chaminade while
Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas/College of the Sequoias/Wylie HS) ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds. Olsen had seven boards and four of the team's 10 assists with Brattain proving to be a problem for Louisville, making 9-of-12 from the floor.
The Silverswords wrap up their Midwest exhibition trip Monday at the University of Cincinnati. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. Hawai'i time and will be televised on ESPN+.
