SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Chaminade University men's basketball team closed out a two-week-long road trip Saturday with an 81-63 loss to Westmont College at Murchison Gym.
The weary and battered Silverswords, who were down to just eight healthy players at tipoff, dropped all five road games which began Jan. 15. It stretched from Fresno in California's Central Valley, down to the Pacific West Conference's southern-most point in San Diego then back up the coast to Santa Barbara.
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) hit five 3-pointers and a team-high 22 points for the 'Swords who fell to 12-9 and 6-8 in the PacWest.
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) added 11 more and three assists with
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) and
Jackson Last (Hurricane, Utah/Robert Morris University/Hurricane HS) contributing with 10 each.
Kameron Ng (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Univ. of Hawai'i Hilo/Saint Francis HS) had six boards and five points.
Adrian McIntyre, the NCAA Division II's No. 2 scorer who put up 39 points for the Warriors in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 2, had 26 in the rematch.
Westmont, which has won three of the four meetings since joining the PacWest last year, is 7-12 and 5-6 in the conference.
Trailing by five early, Chaminade outscored Westmont, 12-4, capped by a
Mykiah Wyche (San Jose, Calif./Foothill College/Piedmont Hills HS) layup which put them up, 21-18. But the 'Swords did not make a field goal for nearly five minutes late in the half, allowing the Warriors to take a 35-25 advantage and, eventually, 40-28 at halftime.
The Warriors used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to put the game out of reach.
Chaminade shot at a 36.7 percent clip and took just 17 attempts beyond the 3-point arc, its fewest this season, with seven makes. They were also 12-of-17 at the foul line, grabbed 31 rebounds and had 15 turnovers.
Westmont was 54.4 percent from the floor with six 3s, were 13-of-16 at the free throw line, snagged 38 boards and had 18 assists to 15 giveaways.
The Silverswords will return to the friendly confines of McCabe Gymnasium when they open their final four-game home stand of the season on Thursday against Dominican University of California. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
