HONOLULU – The theme 14 games into the season for the Chaminade University men's basketball team is that fans will get their money's worth.
For the seventh time in eight Pacific West Conference games, the Silverswords had another contest come down to the wire, defeating Menlo College, 88-85, at McCabe Gymnasium.
Two nights after
Nate Sasser III's (West Palm Beach, Fla./Casper College/Suncoast HS) game-winning layup against Vanguard,
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) had 20 of his career-high 26 points in the first half including five 3-pointers while
Nathan Medina (Long Beach, Calif./Biola University/Valley Christian HS) added 21 as the outcome was decided on the game's final play for the second straight game.
The Silverswords improved to 8-5 overall while keeping an early hold atop the PacWest standings to 6-1, the program's best conference start since a 9-1 mark in 2012-13. They are also 5-2 in games decided by six points or less.
Kris King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) added 10 points for the home team with
Fletcher MacDonald (Wollongong, Australia/Lubbock Christian Univ./Newington College HS) pulling down five rebounds along with eight points.
Kris King and
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) dished out four assists each.
Menlo got 21 points from Kai Brown while bruising post JaMaal Unuakhalu muscled his way to 18 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. The Oaks fell to 3-13 and 3-7 in the PacWest, although their record is deceiving with wins over conference contender Concordia University Irvine and Azusa Pacific on the road.
Chaminade was ahead on the scoreboard for 16 minutes in the first half, although the lead was never more than seven. The 'Swords were finally able to build a double-digit lead in the second stanza, their largest being 64-53 with 12:31 remaining.
However, the Oaks kept hanging around then got a 71-70 edge with nine minutes left, their first of the contest. A 9-0 CUH run pushed their advantage to eight but Menlo continued to claw back, getting within a single digit twice late in the game.
Kris King's two free throws with a minute remaining put Chaminade up 88-83 before the Oaks responded with a pair of their own to close within three with 50 seconds left. The 'Swords had a chance to ice the game but a shot clock violation gave Menlo possession with 19.4 seconds left and a chance to tie the game.
With nine seconds on the clock, Brown's game-tying 3 try was airballed where Nick High grabbed the offensive board. High managed to get a pass off to teammate Luke Wieskamp who, in turn, gave the ball back to High. But with
Kris King and Banks drawing in for a double team, High could not get the shot off as time expired, giving Chaminade its second straight win at the horn.
Chaminade shot 43.5 percent from the field and drained 11 triples while hitting 17-of-21 free throws. Despite being outrebounded, 45-to-20, allowed Menlo to shoot at a whopping 56.1 percent clip and outscored 41-14 from the bench, the 'Swords forced 22 Menlo turnovers and outpointed them, 24-4, off giveaways. CUH also committed just four giveaways, the fewest since giving away three in February 2024 at Hawai'i Pacific University, while dishing out 16 assists.
The Silverswords will face Dominican University of California at McCabe Gym on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 25 minutes after the completion of the women's game.
