HONOLULU –
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) went off for 26 points but it came in a losing effort as the Chaminade University men's basketball team dropped a 90-86 overtime decision to the University of Hawai'i Hilo.
Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas/College of the Sequoias/Wylie HS) and
Wyatt Lowell (Gilbert, Ariz./University of Portland/William Fields HS) each had 13 points while
Chris Bready (Milwaukee, Wis./New Mexico Military Institute/Waukesha West HS) added 11 for Chaminade, which fell to 1-2 on the year.
The game was also the Pacific West Conference opener for both teams in an extremely rare occasion just a week after NCAA Division II members can open their season.
UH Hilo (1-0 PacWest) continued its recent mastery over Chaminade (0-1 PacWest) by winning for the ninth time in the past 10 meetings in the series, dating back to January 2021.
Ross Reeves (Orem, Utah/Snow College/Orem HS) had a career-high 10 assists for the Silverswords while also bringing in seven rebounds as did Amaral-Artharee.
Carlos Ramsey, Jr. led the Vulcans with a game-high 31 points.
No more than seven points separated the two long-time island rivals during the 45 minutes of game action. There were 18 ties and 13 lead changes in all in front of a boisterous Silverswords fan base and a smattering of Vulcans fans making up the 217 fans in attendance.
During a nine-minute span midway through the second half, UH Hilo kept Chaminade at arms' length until the 2:33 mark when
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) hit a pair of free throws to give the 'Swords a 75-74 lead, their first since it was 36-34 late in the first half.
The Silveswords owned the lead in the waning minutes but on two critical UH Hilo possessions, the Vulcans corralled five offensive rebounds leading to two layups from University of Hawai'i Manoa transfer Noar Zedd, the last putting them up 78-76 with 39 seconds left. Amaral-Artharee answered with a three-point play to give the 'Swords the 79-78 edge 17 seconds later.
However, two more offensive boards led to Najrick Peat making one of two free throws with 0.3 seconds left to force overtime.
The extra five minutes proved to be just as thrilling with four more ties and three lead changes, the last coming with two Peat free throws with 57 seconds left. Chaminade had two more chances to either tie the game or take the lead but were unable to connect on both.
The 'Swords shot 43.3 percent to the Vulcans' 48.6 while going to the line 21 times, making 19 while UH Hilo made just 13 trips with nine makes. The Vulcans out-rebounded the Silverswords, 47-to-30 but it was on the offensive glass that was a key number in the deciding outcome. Hawai'i Hilo crashed the boards for 15 on the offensive end to Chaminade' six and out-scored them, 23-to-5, in second chance points.
The Silverswords will now gear up for the Allstate Maui Jim Maui Invitational where they will open the 40th edition of the tournament on Monday against No. 1 Kansas. Tipoff at the SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center is at 4 p.m. with national television coverage on ESPN U while locally, Hawai'i Sports Radio Network (760 AM/95.1 FM) will broadcast all three of Chaminade's games during the tournament.
