SAN RAFAEL, Calif. –
Fletcher MacDonald (Wollongong, Australia/Lubbock Christian Univ./Newington College HS) scored a career-high 19 points Thursday to help the Chaminade University men's basketball team build a big lead and hang on down the stretch in their 76-70 win at Dominican University of California at the Conlon Center.
MacDonald, the junior forward, hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor in surpassing his previous high of 14 as a freshman at Lubbock Christian University in December 2022 to help Chaminade win for the second time in as many games on its current northern California road trip.
Jackson Last (Hurricane, Utah/Robert Morris University/Hurricane HS) added 12 points while
Amound Anderson (Los Angeles, Calif./Fullerton College/Leuzinger HS),
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) and
Kameron Ng (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Univ. of Hawai'i Hilo/Saint Francis HS) each chipped in with 11. Banks also pulled down nine rebounds, giving him 24 in his last three outings while Ng dished out five assists.
The win improved the Silverswords to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific West Conference while also snapping a two-game losing streak to Dominican. The Penguins took both games last year for the first time since 2009-10, the first two games of the series.
Darius Best had 17 points for Dominican which fell to 6-6 and 1-3 in the PacWest.
The 'Swords led for nearly 36 minutes in the contest while DUC led for all of 10 seconds, 15-13 with 13:13 left in the first half on a pair of free throws. A MacDonald layup on CUH's next possession followed by his two free throw put the Silverswords ahead, 17-15, for good.
Chaminade's lead grew to as many as 43-30 early in the second half and owned a 72-64 edge with three minutes left to play. But Dominican used four free throws and a basket by Best, putting them down just 72-70 with 53 seconds left. Best then missed the potential game-tying shot with 21 seconds left, leading to a MacDonald flush of a dish by Anderson eight seconds later.
Anderson would cap the scoring with a pair of free throws with a second left.
The 'Swords converted 41.5 percent of their shots and made 6-of-19 from 3-point range and were 16-of-28 from the free throw line. They grabbed 38 rebounds, had 13 assists and forced Dominican into 22 turnovers.
The Penguins made shots at a 42.9 percent clip, making 4-of-11 from long distance and were 18-from the charity stripe. They totaled 41 rebounds with seven assists.
The Silverswords will wrap up their NorCal trip Saturday at Academy of Art before taking 11 days off for the Christmas holiday. Saturday's tipoff is at 1:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
