HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team outscored Dominican University of California by 14 in the final 20 minutes to help carry them to a 69-55 win Friday at McCabe Gymnasium.
Ross Reeves (Orem, Utah/Snow College/Orem HS) had 15 points while
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) added 14 for the Silverswords, who evened their overall record to 9-9 while improving them to 4-6 at midway point of their Pacific West Conference slate.
Raazhel Watkins (Concord, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) contributed with 13 points and game-high eight rebounds while
Braden Olsen (West Linn, Ore./Gannon University/West Linn HS) continued to impress with 12 points, eight assists and seven boards.
Chaminade got its fourth win of its last five in the month of January after a rough December which saw them start 1-4 in the conference. The victory over Dominican also avenged their 74-73 defeat last month in San Rafael, California, where they lost on a layup with four seconds left, one of their four final-possession PacWest losses.
Although there are still six weeks left in the regular season, the win put the 'Swords just a half-game behind Dominican for the sixth spot in March's PacWest Tournament which will be held at McCabe Gym in early March. The top six teams earn a berth into the championships.
Amaral-Artharee hit a pair of 3-pointers in the game, giving him 176, moveing him past Chaminade Hall-of-Famer George Gilmore (174) into second in the school's all-time 3-point list.
Jaayden Bush led the Penguins (8-9, 5-6 PacWest) with 25 points.
Dominican, just two days removed from being upset on Wednesday at Hawai'i Pacific which gave the Sharks their first conference win of the season, jumped out to an early 16-8 lead. With Chaminade trailing 20-12, Watkins had five points during an 11-3 run, capped by a three-point play from Reeves which earned them a 23-all tie at the 5:39 mark of the half, the first since it was 6-6 two minutes in. The Penguins would retake the lead but two free throws from
Jalen Brattain (Shallowater, Texas/Lubbock Christian Univ./Shallowater HS) would send the game deadlocked at 33 at the break.
The 'Swords would get their first lead of the game since 6-5 on Olsen's layup for the opening points of the second half, making it 35-33. There would be three ties and three lead changes from there, the last being a layup by Amaral-Artharee which started another 11-3 run which put Chaminade ahead for good.
Reeves' layup with 8:38 remaining would give the Silverswords their first double-digit advantage of the contest at 56-45. Their defense took over from there, holding DUC to just three field goals in the final eight minutes.
Chaminade made 46.3 percent of its shots, were 9-of-25 from 3-point distance and 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. Although they were out-rebounded, 38-to-32, the 'Swords forced 18 turnovers, converting them into 14 points.
Dominican was held to a 35.6 percent clip, making 5-of-18 shots from 3-point range and 8-of-12 free throws.
The Silverswords return to McCabe Gym on Monday for the first of their final two games of their current seven-game home stand when they face Biola. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
