HONOLULU – For some 30 minutes on Saturday, it appeared that Azusa Pacific was going chalk to up another win against the Chaminade University men's basketball team.
Instead, a flurry of action in the second half ignited the Silverswords as they erased an 11-point halftime deficit to beat the Cougars, 70-63, at McCabe Gymnasium.
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) had 14 points and four steals while
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) added 13 more to help ignite the comeback as Chaminade snapped a string of seven straight losses to Azusa Pacific, dating back to February 2020.
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) added 11 points with
Amound Anderson (Los Angeles, Calif./Fullerton College/Leuzinger HS) chipped in with 10 more as the 'Swords split their final home weekend series of their four-game home stand. Chaminade improved to 12-4 overall and at 6-3 in the Pacific West Conference, matching their conference win total from last season.
Fletcher MacDonald (Wollongong, Australia/Lubbock Christian Univ./Newington College HS) pulled down nine rebounds with eight points while
Kameron Ng (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Univ. of Hawai'i Hilo/Saint Francis HS) was the Silverswords' assist leader with four while also adding six points and five boards.
Jordan Hansen led the Cougars (9-7, 4-4 PacWest) with 16 points.
Chaminade trailed by as many as 14 as several points including with 1:23 left in the first half. Two King free throws narrowed the margin to 34-23 at the break.
After shaving the deficit to 43-37 at the 10:30 mark, Thomas stuck a 3-pointer, triggering a 19-5 run over the next four minutes. Anderson had eight during the surge including a triple which put the 'Swords ahead for the first time since early in the first half. Chaminde's defense also played a factor in the run, forcing four APU turnovers, which led to eight points including an and-one flush by King.
The Cougars would hang around, staying within four points but a MacDonald layup followed by four made free throws – three by Thomas – kept the 'Swords in front.
Two nights after making just seven of 13 from the charity stripe against Biola, the 'Swords made 22 of their 26 tries at the line. They shot 30.4 percent from the floor and out-rebounded Azusa Pacific, 39-to-38. Chaminade out-scored APU, 20-7, in points off turnovers and 12 of APU's 20 giveaways were in the second half. They also had a 27-5 margin in fast break points, 24-10 in the paint and 12-2 in second chance points.
The Cougars shot at a 34.8 percent clip and were 22-of-31 at the charity stripe.
The Silverswords will open up a five-game road swing spanning two weeks on Wednesday at Fresno Pacific. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
