HONOLULU – For the second straight day, the Chaminade University men's basketball team faced against one of the storied programs in college basketball.
Unlike Monday where the Silverswords hung with top-ranked Kansas for a half, a slow start resulted into a 76-48 defeat to UCLA in a consolation game of the Allstate Maui Invitational at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) had 17 points, hitting five 3-pointers, along with four steals while
Ross Reeves (Orem, Utah/Snow College/Orem HS) added 11 for Chaminade, which fell to 1-4 on the year and 0-2 in the tournament.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) chipped in with five points.
Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas/College of the Sequoias/Wylie HS) pulled down a team-best five rebounds, as did Reeves who also had four assists.
Sebastian Mack led the Bruins, ranked 24th in the USA Today Coaches Poll, with 16 points.
A lid seemed to be on the rim with the Silverswords starting the game just 1-of-14 including 0-for-8 from long range, resulting in a 28-4 Bruins' lead four minutes in. Thomas finally got Chaminade's first triple to fall at the 9:33 mark of the half. That created a cascade of 3s with Reeves and Thomas again, hitting consecutive 3-balls and in all, a 14-2 run cut the deficit to 30-18.
But the cover went back on the hoop with the 'Swords making just one of their last nine shots of the half to trail 36-21 at halftime.
Coming out of the break, Reeves and Thomas made consecutive 3-pointers while Thomas' shot just inside the arc cut the deficit to 45-35 with 14:24 left.
The 'Swords would stay within a 14-point threshold before UCLA used a late 14-0 run to push its lead to over 20.
Chaminade shot just under 26 percent from the field with nine triples. Against the taller Bruins including 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara and 6-10 forward Adem Bona, the 'Swords were out-rebounded, 55-to-24, and were outscored, 38-to-4 inside the paint. However, Chaminade managed to force 18 Bruin turnovers.
The Silverswords will wrap up the Allstate Maui Invitational in Wednesday's seventh-place game against Syracuse, the second all-time meeting between the two programs. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN U.
