SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Chaminade University men's basketball team was hoping to put a cap on an already successful Pacific West Conference start and road trip by exercising some demons at Westmont College.
Unfortunately for the Silverswords, history repeated itself Saturday in their 77-58 loss to Murchison Gymnasium who have dropped all three games in the building by an average margin of over 19 points per game.
Kris King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) had a team-high 11 points and three steals for the 'Swords who fell to 6-5 overall while suffering their first PacWest loss in dropping to 4-1 with all five conference games coming on the road.
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) added nine points and six rebounds
Nathan Medina (Long Beach, Calif./Biola University/Valley Christian HS) had eight points to reach the career 1,000-point plateau. The senior transfer has 1,002 in his career, which includes 819 at Biola.
Brandon Haddock (Southlake, Texas/University of Utah/Carroll HS) also had eight.
Nate Sasser III (West Palm Beach, Fla./Casper College/Suncoast HS) contributed with seven points with
Brycen Shackelford (Folsom, Calif./Folsom) getting six.
Jarrett Bryant had 18 points for Westmont (6-4, 3-1 PacWest) which won its sixth straight home game dating back to last season.
After a
Mykiah Wyche (San Jose, Calif./Foothill College/Piedmont Hills HS) put-back with 11:27 left in the first half, the 'Swords offense stalled, making just two baskets in the last 11 minutes, a Haddock 3-pointer and a
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) layup. The 'Swords also hurt themselves in the final three minutes with five turnovers leading to seven points, allowing Westmont to go on a half-closing 11-0 run to take a 36-26 halftime lead.
Chaminade's bad fortune continued in the second half, committing more five giveaways during an early two-minute span to help the Warriors build their lead to 60-39 in which the 'Swords could not recover.
The 'Swords shot 33.9 percent and was 6-of-28 from 3-point range while making 14-of-20 at the free throw line. CUH had 37 rebounds and 10 assists.
Westmont shot at a 46.3 percentage from floor, 7-of-25 from long range and went 8-for-13 at the charity stripe. The Warriors grabbed 43 boards, had 16 assists and forced 20 turnovers.
The Silverswords will take the NCAA Division II-mandated Christmas holiday off then return to McCabe Gymnasium where they will play 13 of their next 17 games including the next five straight, their first PacWest home games of the season. The home stand opens on Tuesday, Jan. 13 against Vanguard University at 7:30 p.m.
