HONOLULU – Thursday was a key matchup between the Chaminade University and Biola University men's basketball teams, both of whom were among the early leaders in the Pacific West Conference standings.
After leading for much of the game, the Silverswords couldn't make the plays it needed down the stretch, suffering a bitter 88-81 overtime loss to the Eagles at McCabe Gymnasium.
The loss was reminiscent of the meeting between the two teams in a four-overtime thriller on Jan. 4, 2020 when Biola outlasted the 'Swords, 113-107, at McCabe, by making big shots and getting defensive stops.
Amound Anderson (Los Angeles, Calif./Fullerton College/Leuzinger HS) posted a team-high 24 points for Chaminade, hitting six 3-pointers while making four steals.
Fletcher MacDonald (Wollongong, Australia/Lubbock Christian Univ./Newington College HS) added 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and was a rebound shy of a double-double.
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) added 11 points while
Jackson Last (Hurricane, Utah/Robert Morris University/Hurricane HS) chipped in with 10.
Chaminade fell to 11-4 overall and 5-3 in the PacWest, suffering just their second conference loss of the season.
Biola got 30 points from Casey Cappo in improving to 11-4 and 5-2 in the conference on a night that saw all four road teams win PacWest contests on Thursday.
With just under nine minutes left, the 'Swords owned a 70-62 lead after a layup from Thomas. However, Biola kept chipping away and eventually taking a 77-75 edge with 1:19 left. Last responded with a step-back 3-pointer at the top of the key to put the 'Swords up, 78-77.
A missed free throw with 24 seconds left the door open for Biola with Cappo hitting two free throws with just under three seconds left to force overtime.
However, the Silverswords went ice cold in the extra period, missing all nine of their field goal tries while the Eagles made a pair and helped ice the game by making 5-of-6 at the charity stripe in the waning seconds.
Chaminade shot 39 percent from the floor, was 14-of-36 from long distance and 7-of-13 at the free throw line. They dished out 13 assists while giving the ball away the same amount of times.
Biola, who got back into the game by shooting 15-of-22 (68 percent) in the second half, finished with a 50.8 percentile from the floor while making 9-of-25 from 3-point range and was 19-of-23 at the line. The Eagles outrebounded the Silverswords, 44-to-35, while turning the rock over 22 times. Their one-on-one dribble drives in the paint also netted them just four assists.
The Silverswords will wrap up their four-game home stand Saturday with another early PacWest contender in Azusa Pacific, which won at Hawai'i Pacific earlier in the evening. Tipoff at McCabe Gym is set for 2 p.m.
