LA MIRADA, Calif. – The Chaminade University men's basketball team on Friday continued its five-game road swing to Southern California with a 95-71 loss to Biola University at Chase Gymnasium
Jessiya Villa (Laurel, Md./University of Hawai'i/Kahuku HS, Hawai'i) led the Silverswords with 11 points off the bench, his first double-digit scoring game in nearly 23 months, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the field.
Playing in his 100th career game (combined with 51 at Seattle Pacific and 29 at Gannon University),
Braden Olsen (West Linn, Ore./Gannon University/West Linn HS) was one of three 'Swords with nine points and dished out three assists.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) and
Ross Reeves (Orem, Utah/Snow College/Orem HS) also had nine points on the day.
Chris Bready (Milwaukee, Wis./New Mexico Military Institute/Waukesha West HS) and
Dorian Harris (Cerritos, Calif./Cerritos College/Cerritos HS) followed with eight points each.
Raazhel Watkins (Concord, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) had seven points and tied his career-high with nine rebounds.
Chaminade fell to 10-12 on the season and 5-9 in the Pacific West Conference, falling a game-and-a-half behind Dominican University of California for the final spot in the PacWest Tournament which will be held in McCabe Gymnasium.
Alex Wright had 22 points for the Eagles, who avenged their overtime loss at Chaminade back on Jan. 16. Biola improved to 13-7 and 8-5 in the conference.
Leading 16-12 with 10:25 left in the first half, the Eagles went on a 13-2 run over the next three minutes, extending Chaminade's deficit to 28-14. However, the Silverswords were still it in the game, trailing 43-30 at halftime.
The second half fared no better for the 'Swords, who went cold. A wing jumper from Bready was the 'Swords first basket of the second half, although they were able to take advantage of Biola's fouling tendencies, making 11 free throws.
By the time Chaminade got its second field goal to drop, a layup from Villa at the 9:09 mark, the 'Swords trailed 76-45, but managed to whittle the deficit to under 30 points by game's end.
Chaminade shot 34.6 percent from the field and made just five triples while hitting 18-of-24 from the charity stripe. Although they had nine assists, they committed just seven turnovers while
Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas/College of the Sequoias/Wylie HS) had three of the team's five blocked shots.
The Eagles made 46.8 percent of their shots but hit 11-of-17 from long range. Biola also hammered Chaminade on the boards, with a 57-to-31 advantage, outscoring them, 20-to-10 in second-chance points.
The Silverswords' road trip continues Monday at Azusa Pacific. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
