SAN DIEGO – Thursday's battle of the top two teams in the Pacific West Conference men's basketball standings was seemingly decided in the opening part of the first half.
Chaminade University, atop the conference at the start of the day, went scoreless in the first 10 minutes, enabling Point Loma to run away with a 77-52 win at Golden Gymnasium, the opener of the Silverswords' three-game Southern California road swing.
Kris King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) had 18 points and eight rebounds while twin brother
Kent King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) added 11 for the 'Swords who fell to 10-7 and 8-3 in the PacWest. They also suffered their eighth straight defeat in the series.
The Sea Lions, the four-time defending PacWest champions, got 21 points from Andrew Hommes and replaced Chaminade as the conference leaders at 10-3 in the PacWest and 15-4 overall and dropped the 'Swords to second, just two losses ahead of Hawai'i Pacific, Westmont and Fresno Pacific.
Brycen Shackelford (Folsom, Calif./Folsom) had seven points for the Silverswords, who had their lowest scoring output against a non-Division I opponent since posting 38 against fellow Division II foe Lubbock Christian on Nov. 27, 2021.
The Silverswords, who averaged over 14 assists per outing entering Thursday, had a season-low four.
The 'Swords seemed doomed from the start, missing their first 16 shots before
Kent King's jumper fell at the 9:57 mark of the half. CUH, which trailed 23-2, didn't get its second field goal until 6:04 left on Shackelford's jumper.
Despite their shooting woes, the 'Swords finally seemed to settle down, making six of their last nine shots of the half and kept within striking distance with two
Kris King free throws bringing them to within 11 with just under two minutes left.
However, Chaminade could not seem to break from a 13-point differential in the second half while a Sea Lions' 12-2 run pushed their lead to 23.
The 'Swords shot 25.8 percent from the field with four 3-pointers and 14 free throws with 39 rebounds.
Point Loma had a 45.5 field goal percentage, nine triples, was 8-for-13 from the foul line, grabbed 47 boards, 18 assists and nine blocks.
The Silverswords' road trip continues Saturday at Concordia University Irvine and is scheduled for 5 p.m. Hawai'i time.
