HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team started off to a blazing hot start in their crosstown rivalry game against Hawai'i Pacific University but cooled off significantly as their season ended Thursday with a 96-75 loss at the HPU Shark Tank.
The Silverswords built a 17-point lead in the opening six minutes but couldn't sustain their shooting, resulting in their largest blown lead of the season as the two teams split the season series.
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) led the 'Swords with 17 points while
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Amound Anderson (Los Angeles, Calif./Fullerton College/Leuzinger HS) had 12 with
Kameron Ng (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Univ. of Hawai'i Hilo/Saint Francis HS) dropping 10 points in his final game as a Silversword.
Kris King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) also had 10 points for Chaminade, which did not have the services of leading scorer
Jackson Last (Hurricane, Utah/Robert Morris University/Hurricane HS) who spent his final game as a Silversword on the bench due to an injury.
Jamir Thomas (Berkeley, Calif./City College of San Francisco/Berkeley HS) had six points in his final game in a 'Swords uniform.
The loss ended Chaminade's season at 16-11 overall and 10-10 in the conference, eliminating them from the Pacific West Conference Tournament chase. The Sharks improved to 14-14 overall and 9-10 in the conference but, like Chaminade, have been eliminated from conference tournament consideration.
Although a Fresno Pacific loss at Jessup, Concordia Irvine loss to Dominican and HPU win at Hawai'i Hilo would leave a four-way tie for the sixth spot at 10-10, the 'Swords lose the multi-team tiebreaker due to their 1-4 record this season against FPU, CUI and HPU.
The Silverswords were on fire from deep early, hitting six of their first eight 3-pointers to open up a 24-7 lead with Banks knocking down three of them. Behind their vocal crowd on their senior night, the Sharks climbed back within 24-17. Like CUH did earlier, HPU starting hitting from long range, knocking down five, two of which gave them their first lead at 38-37 followed by another to extend it to 41-37. Meanwhile, Chaminade made just one of its last 14 from distance.
With 0.5 seconds left in the half, the 'Swords' crosscourt inbounds pass hit the Shark Tank ceiling, the ensuing turnover giving HPU the ball under their basket. The turnover proved costly as Charlie Weber hit a 10-footer off their own inbounds pass at the first-half buzzer to give the home team a 49-43 lead at halftime. In the final 14 minutes, HPU outscored Chaminade, 42-19.
Ng's second triple of the game narrowed Chaminade's deficit to 51-48 and, following an HPU run, closed to within 76-70 on
Kris King's layup with 6:38 left to give them life. However, the Sharks went on a 14-4 run to close it out.
The 'Swords shot 42.6 percent from the floor and made 14 3-pointers but made just eight in the game's final 34 minutes. They also made just four of their 12 tries at the free throw lines. Along with 16 assists, the Silverswords committed just nine turnovers.
HPU made 48.6 percent from the field and hit 13 triples while going 14-of-17 at the free throw line. They had a 56-to-28 advantage on the glass, had 18 assists and 15 giveaways.
Despite having their season end, the Silverswords got 14th-year head coach
Eric Bovaird his 200th career win at UH Hilo on Feb. 13. Their 82.9 points per game average is also the highest since the 2015-16 season when they averaged over 92 per outing.
