SAN DIEGO – The Chaminade University men's basketball team opened their four-game Southern California road trip Saturday with an 83-59 defeat to two-time defending Pacific West Conference champion Point Loma at Golden Gymnasium.
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) had a team-high 15 points for the Silverswords who ended the 2023 calendar year by falling to 5-9 overall and 1-5 in the Pacific West Conference.
Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas/College of the Sequoias/Wylie HS) added nine points and eight rebounds for the 'Swords while
Ross Reeves (Orem, Utah/Snow College/Orem HS) also had nine with five boards and three assists.
Isaac Amaral-Artharee (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) added eight points with
Kelton Samore (Portland, Ore./Seattle Pacific University/Grant HS) chipping in with seve.
Point Loma, which saw its PacWest record 33-game winning streak in conference games halted in their previous game at Azusa Pacific on Dec. 19, hit 11 3-pointers – eight in the second half – to pull away in the final 20 minutes. Jake Lifgren had a game-high 17 points for PLNU which improved to 8-4 and 3-1 in the conference.
Chaminade, meanwhile, has dropped the last five meetings in the series thanks in part to hot Point Loma long-range shooting. During that span, PLNU is 54-of-148 against CUH from 3-point range for 36.5 percent beyond the arc.
The 'Swords raced out to an early 6-2 on buckets from Amaral-Artharee and Thomas and two Reeves free throws. But over the next seven minutes, PLNU used a 21-4 run, thanks in part to six offensive boards and a 26-12 lead before
Chris Bready's (Milwaukee, Wis./New Mexico Military Institute/Waukesha West HS) long triple helped to end the bleeding.
Chaminade closed to 10 on four occasions including right before the half on Samore's layup, which made it 35-25 going into the locker room. The 'Swords were out-rebounded, 11-to-1 on the offensive glass and out-scored, 14-0, in second-chance points but held the Sea Lions to just three triples.
However, Point Loma's long-ball deficiency wasn't held down for long, hitting 4-of-6 to start the second half to grab a 51-33 lead. PLNU would later go 4-of-5 from long range to increase its lead to 27 with less than four minutes left.
Chaminade shot at a 36.8 percent clip and made two 3-pointers, although they took just 17 from distance, their fewest of the season. They also made all seven free throw tries, had 35 rebounds, nine assists and 11 turnovers.
Point Loma was 47.8 percent from the floor, grabbed 44 rebounds with 19 assists and seven giveaways. The good news for the 'Swords was their reversal of the offensive boards in the second half, out-boarding them, 9-to-1, and an 8-2 margin in second-chance points. However, they were outscored 8-2 in fast-break points.
The Silverswords continue their road trip on Monday, New Year's Day, at Biola. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. Hawai'i time or 25 minutes after the conclusion of the women's contest.
