HONOLULU – Going into Tuesday's Pacific West Conference opener, the Chaminade University and Hawai'i Pacific University men's basketball teams had one common opponent – Boise State.
HPU opened its season by stunning the Division I Broncos in Boise, Idaho back on Nov. 3. The Silverswords were poised with an upset of their own before a second-half drought resulted in a convincing Broncos' win on Nov. 26.
On Tuesday, the Silverswords and Sharks tangled in front of a statewide Spectrum Sports television audience at The Shark Tank. Round 1 of the rivalry went to the visitors.
Chaminade got 17 points from
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy), 13 from
Nathan Medina (Long Beach, Calif./Biola University/Valley Christian HS) and 10 from
Fletcher MacDonald (Wollongong, Australia/Lubbock Christian Univ./Newington College HS) as the Silverswords held off the Sharks, 71-68.
King pulled down nine rebounds while twin brother
Kris King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) had seven points and eight boards.
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) chipped in with nine points and four assists.
Chaminade, which lost all three games last week at the Southwest Maui Invitational, snapped its losing streak in improving to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the PacWest.
Quinton McCollough led the Sharks (3-2, 0-1 PacWest) with 17 points and 14 boards.
A close game throughout saw HPU take a 26-20 edge with 7:47 left, its largest of the game. However, a three-point play from
Brandon Haddock (Southlake, Texas/University of Utah/Carroll HS) along with 3-pointers from Medina and
Kent King helped give the 'Swords a 37-32 lead at halftime.
CUH expanded its lead with the help of
Nate Sasser III (West Palm Beach, Fla./Casper College/Suncoast HS) who had all of his eight points on back-to-back-to-back buckets, followed later by a Medina triple to give Chaminade the game's largest lead at 57-44.
HPU rallied and took a 66-65 lead with 2:53 remaining but a three-point play by
Kent King put the 'Swords ahead for good.
Chaminade shot 41.7 percent from the floor, making 9-of-26 from 3-point range and was 12-of-16 at the charity stripe. They pulled in 39 rebounds with 11 assists while Banks had four of the team's eight steals. The 'Swords, whose full-court press wreaked havoc on Maui, forced just 11 Sharks turnovers.
HPU was held to 36 percent shooting, 5-of-33 from long distance and 9-of-14 at the free throw line. The Sharks had 46 boards, 11 assists and three blocks.
The Silverswords will face their other in-state rival, the University of Hawai'i Hilo, Saturday on the Big Island. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
