HONOLULU – Playing the first game in the final home stand of the season, the Chaminade University men's basketball team was looking for another signature win with the Pacific West Conference Championships looming on the horizon.
However, conference-leading Azusa Pacific had other ideas, hitting several crucial shots down the stretch to hold off the Silverswords, 81-76, Monday at McCabe Gymnasium.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) tied his season high with 22 points for the Silverswords who fell to 8-13 overall and 6-9 in the PacWest. Amaral-Artharee hit 6-of-12 shots including three 3-pointers, hitting all seven free throw shots while dishing out four assists. Ironically, the redshirt junior guard's other 22-point performance came against the Cougars on Jan. 24 in Azusa, Calif.
Zach McIntire (Delaware, Ohio/Mercyhurst University/Delaware Hayes HS) added 15 points for the 'Swords, who were swept by APU for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Raazhel Watkins (Concord, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) had 12 points and five assists while Amaral-Artharee and
Paris Taylor (Bolivar, Tenn./University of Wisconsin Green Bay/Central HS) each had five rebounds.
Justin Hemsley, who played down just down the street for the University of Hawai'i a year ago, led the Cougars with 20 points, making 8-of-10 shots.
APU improved to 13-6 and maintained its first place lead of the PacWest at 10-2.
With the help of three Amaral-Artharee free throws and triples by Watkins and
Sawyer Storms (Idaho Falls, Idaho/College of Southern Idaho/Idaho Falls HS), Chaminade opened up a 16-10 lead five minutes in. APU charged back forcing a 16-all tie before taking back the lead on a Taylor free throw.
Tredyn Christensen (Eagle Mountain, Utah/Snow College/Westlake HS) and McIntire then got the home crowd hopping with transition flushes on consecutive possessions to give them a 21-16 edge.
APU took its first lead of the game at 30-29 on a Terrance Becvar 3-pointer at the 5:25 mark then Hemsley threw down a dunk at the buzzer for a 46-43 halftime lead. The highly entertaining first half saw a total of six ties and eight lead changes.
The second half saw the 'Swords twice take the lead including at 14:17 when McIntire lobbed an alley-oop jam to Taylor. A bucket from Amaral-Artharee gave Chaminade its final lead at 64-62 with 9:35 left and McIntire's triple with 7:30 remaining got them their final tie at 67. But Ken West's layup a minute later put Azusa Pacific up for good.
CUH got the deficit down to two on two separate occasions down the stretch but Hayden Gray made nearly singlehandedly kept the Cougars ahead with four layups – three on hard drives to the rim – in the final five minutes. Chaminade also hurt itself with just one field goal in the final three minutes.
The 'Swords shot relatively well, making 51.8 percent of their shots with 31 rebounds and 17 assists. However, their 19 turnovers led to 23 Cougar points.
APU made half its 60 field goal attempts with 11 triples, 27 boards and 18 assists to go with 15 giveaways.
Chaminade still owns the No. 8 spot in the conference tournament, holding a three-win lead over Holy Names (5-15, 3-9 PacWest) which lost to Biola earlier in the day.
The Silverswords will face Hawai'i Hilo on Wednesday at McCabe Gymnasium with both squads looking to snap their five-game losing streaks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
