HONOLULU – Part of what epitomized the Chaminade University men's basketball team in their six-game losing streak was either their inability to protect large leads or suffering first-half cold spells.
On Saturday, it seemed it would be more of the same for the Silverswords as they faced a 17-point halftime deficit to Jessup University.
Knowing that their postseason was on the line, the 'Swords made a stunning second half rally sparked by their defensive pressure for their 91-82, win at McCabe Gymnasium to snap out of their recent funk.
Chaminade, which trailed by as many as 18, forced 14 second-half turnovers and turned them into 21 points to improve to 11-12 and 9-8 in the Pacific West Conference. According to available records, the comeback is the second-largest in program history, trailing only the 19-point rally in February 2019 at Azusa Pacific.
Six Silverswords reached the double-digit scoring mark, paced by
Kent King's (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) 17 points and seven rebounds.
Fletcher MacDonald (Wollongong, Australia/Lubbock Christian Univ./Newington College HS) added a season-high 16 points, making eight of his 10 shots on the afternoon while he also hauled in seven boards.
Nathan Medina (Long Beach, Calif./Biola University/Valley Christian HS) chipped in with 14 points while
Roland Banks II (Bakersfield, Calif./Fullerton College/Cathedral HS) and
Kris King (Washington, D.C./Vincennes University/Fork Union Military Academy) had 13 each with
Nate Sasser III (West Palm Beach, Fla./Casper College/Suncoast HS) getting 10. Banks and Sasser also had four assists.
Andre Norris had 18 points for the Warriors, who fell to 13-12 and 10-9 in the PacWest.
Chaminade remains on the outside looking in for one of the sixth berths to next month's PacWest Championships but are just a half-game behind Dominican and Fresno Pacific for the final spot.
With 4:41 left in the first half, CUH faced a 36-18 deficit and was down 45-28 at halftime.
A 16-3 Silverswords' run early in the second half, led by the King twins' eight points during the run, put life back in the team, getting them to within 53-50.
Sasser's driving layup with 8:27 left gave Chaminade its first lead of the game at 60-59 which they later stretched it to 77-69 some four minutes later. In the final 96 seconds, the 'Swords made all eight of their free throws while Medina hit a layup to give them their first win since Jan. 24.
Chaminade outscored Jessup 63-37 and made 18-of-32 shots in the final 20 minutes. In all, the 'Swords shot 43.1 percent and, although they struggled from behind the 3-point arc, made 32-of-43 free throws, pulled down 30 rebounds, dished out 17 assists to just eight turnovers, forcing 26 Warrior giveaways which resulted in a gaudy 28-4 count in points off turnovers.
Jessup shot 44.3 from the floor, making nine triples and was 19-of-22 at the charity stripe, had 47 boards and 17 assists.
The Silverswords will play their final two home games of the season, starting Tuesday against Azusa Pacific. Tipoff is scheduled 25 minutes after the completion of the women's game.
