HONOLULU – It's hard to say there are must win games just three games into the conference season.
However, for the Chaminade University men's basketball team, Saturday's Pacific West Conference matchup could certainly fit that very description especially having dropped their first two conference games at home and could ill-afford to suffer a third straight defeat.
The Silverswords responded from Thursday's disappointing loss to Westmont College with a 67-55 win over Fresno Pacific at McCabe Gymnasium for their first PacWest win of the year.
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) had 14 points while
Kelton Samore (Portland, Ore./Seattle Pacific University/Grant HS) added 11 and nine rebounds as the Silverswords let from the opening tip, save for an early 2-2 tie.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) and
Wyatt Lowell (Gilbert, Ariz./University of Portland/William Fields HS) each added nine points for Chaminade (3-6, 1-2 PacWest) while
Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas/College of the Sequoias/Wylie HS) and
Chris Bready (Milwaukee, Wis./New Mexico Military Institute/Waukesha West HS) had seven and six points, respectively.
Fresno Pacific got 13 points each from Isaac Peralta and Harrison Pennisi as they fell to 1-5 and 0-1 in the conference.
Chaminade drilled a season-high 12 3-pointers and led by as many as 27 late in the game before the Sunbirds made it a lot closer than the outcome really was with several garbage-time scores.
It took over a minute for the game's first score, coming on an Ator layup. FPU tied it at 2 on the next possession but CUH went on a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to help set the tone. Reeves had five during the run with Amaral-Artharee adding another four.
Chaminade maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, getting its first 20-point edge on Bready's 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the first half for a 37-17 halftime score.
The 'Swords' lead swelled to 64-37 on Lowell's baseline triple with 4:21 left before Peralta scored 11 of his points during the Sunbirds' game-ending 18-3 run, although the Silverswords were never threatened down the final stretch.
Chaminade shot 43.1 percent from the field, made 7-of-11 free throws while Fresno Pacific was held to a 38.3 percent clip, and made 6-of-11 from the charity stripe. Rebounds were nearly even with 35 for the home team and 34 for the visitors with the 'Swords dishing out 16 assists to the Sunbirds' nine.
The Silverswords, who played their last McCabe Gym game of the calendar year and don't return until Jan. 13, will open a two-game road trip Sunday at Academy of Art. Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
