AZUSA, Calif. – The third game of the two-week long road trip for the Chaminade University men's basketball team's Southern California road trip could only be described as agonizing.
The Silverswords on Monday saw a second-half double-digit lead evaporate as Azusa Pacific rallied for an 83-79 win at the Felix Event Center.
Braden Olsen (West Linn, Ore./Gannon University/West Linn HS), who needed just six points entering the game to reach 1,000 across his collegiate career, poured in 26 while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out four assists in the loss. The graduate transfer had 742 combined points in his first two collegiate stops at fellow Division II members Seattle Pacific and Gannon University.
Raazhel Watkins (Concord, Calif./Sacramento State/College Park HS) added 12 points, hitting four 3-pointers on the evening.
Jalen Brattain (Shallowater, Texas/Lubbock Christian Univ./Shallowater HS) and
Chris Bready (Milwaukee, Wis./New Mexico Military Institute/Waukesha West HS) each had 10 point for the 'Swords.
Ross Reeves (Orem, Utah/Snow College/Orem HS) had seven rebounds for Chaminade with
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) dishing out four assists.
The loss sent Chaminade to its fourth straight defeat to the end the first month of 2023 after having previously won four of its five conference games to start January. The 'Swords fell to 10-12 overall and 5-10 in the Pacific West Conference. They are currently two games behind Dominican University of California with five games left for the sixth and final spot of the PacWest Tournament which will be played on their home floor of McCabe Gymnasium in just over a month.
The win moved Azusa Pacific (15-6 overall) to 10-4 in the PacWest, putting them in a tie for second with Hawai'i Hilo. Ken West scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half as APU shot 53.3 percent in the final 20 minutes while CUH made just 12-of-37 shots during the same span. The Cougars have also won the last five meetings in the series.
Unlike their Jan. 20 start in Honolulu where they trailed 10-2 in the opening three minutes, it was the 'Swords who got off to the fast start, bolting out to a 20-11 lead in the first nine minutes. Olsen, the PacWest's assists leader, became a scorer, accounting for half of Chaminade's points during the stretch.
The Cougars, who hit 13 3-pointers in the first meeting, missed their first five tries from outside the arc, getting their first to drop with 7:41 left in the first half, to close to 27-17. Brattain, Bready and Olsen all hit buckets which helped give them a 43-30 lead with just under two minutes left, the 'Swords largest of the game.
The Cougars managed to net the final four points of the opening stanza, closing to within 46-37 at the break. Chaminade shot 59.4 percent (19-of-32) in the first half.
However, the 'Swords managed to get their lead back to double-digits, thanks to Brattain's three-point play which put them up 58-48 with 13:28 remaining. But APU proceeded to go on an 18-7 run over the next six minutes, capped by West's three-point play of his own which gave the Cougars their first lead (66-65) since it was 2-0.
From that point, there was one tie and four lead changes with Olsen getting a layup which put Chaminade up, 69-68, then another to knot it at 71, but APU scored the next seven points for a 78-71 lead. Another Olsen layup made it an 81-78 margin with 14 seconds left but the Cougars sealed it with two free throws to keep a two-possession lead.
Chaminade shot 44.9 percent in the game, hitting nine 3-pointers and 7-of-9 free throws. They hauled in 33 rebounds, dished out 12 assists with 11 turnovers.
Azusa Pacific shot at a 46.9 percent clip, making 16-of-30 shots in the second half including six second-half 3s. The also went 13-of-22 from the free throw line, pulled down 38 boards with 17 assists.
The Silverswords end the Southern California stretch of their road trip Wednesday when they face Concordia University Irvine before ending the trip on Saturday in the California's Central Valley at Fresno Pacific. Tipoff on Wednesday is set for 5:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
