The UHH basketball teams will now hit the road for PacWest games at Grand Canyon (Jan. 19), Cal Baptist (Jan. 21) and Dixie State (Jan. 24), before returning home to host Cal Baptist on Jan. 28 to start a five-game conference stand in Hilo.
By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
Freshman Lee Bailey scored 24 points and junior Bennie Murray 20 to lead Chaminade University to a 92-89 win over the slow-starting University of Hawaii at Hilo on Saturday night.
About 300 fans watched the Pacific West Conference men’s basketball game at UHH Gym. In the earlier women’s contest, the Vulcans defeated the Silverswords 61-32.
The visiting Silverswords (6-5 overall, 4-0 PacWest) came out firing on all cylinders and raced to a 16-3 lead over the Vulcans (7-6, 1-4). Surprisingly, the hosts were lackadaisical and near defenseless in the opening five minutes of the important conference game before UHH coach Jeff Law pulled his starters.
But by that time, Chaminade had already grabbed momentum and although the hosts would eventually tie the contest late in the second half, the Silverswords never trailed in the physical affair.
“We played terrible, terrible defense,” a disappointed Law said after the loss. “Until we find our defensive pride and just stop trying to outscore everybody, we’re going to be a mediocre team.
“At the start of the game tonight, we didn’t guard anybody and played with very little energy.”
The switch to UHH’s second unit lifted the defensive intensity level, but the Vulcans still had a hard time scoring against the athletic Silverswords. Finally when the first team returned to the floor, the hosts made a run behind juniors Terrell Mack (8 points) and Mychael Hearn (8 points) to pull within 47-43 at the intermission.
But on this particular evening against a quality team and with the Kia Hamster mascot often showing more energy than the Vulcans in that frustrating opening half, UHH had two or three late opportunities to steal a victory. However, the hosts inability to knock down key shots — except for junior CJ Brown — or turning the ball back over to Chaminade cost them.
Brown drained a clutch 3-pointer with :54 remaining as the Vulcans closed to within 90-89. Then after Bailey, a quick 6-foot guard from Detroit, missed a 3-pointer, Hearn grabbed the rebound. UHH then looked to take the lead but Mack tried to split a double team on a drive to the basket and turned the ball over with 3.6 second left.
Chaminade’s Waly Coulibaly was fouled on the play and sank two free throws to stretch the lead to 92-89. And then following a time out, Mack fired up a 3-pointer just after the buzzer sounded and the Silverswords walked off the court with their perfect PacWest record intact.
Senior forward Matt Cousins added 14 points for Chaminade while teammates Coulibaly and Dominique Cooks chipped in with 12 and 10, respectively. Cooks also had a game-high eight rebounds.
UHH’s Brown, a 6-1 point guard from Sacramento, Calif., stepped up and played his best game of the season. He hit 7 of 9 field goals, including 3 of 4 3-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws to lead the Vulcans with a team-high 20 points. He also had five assists, two rebounds and a steal in 37 productive minutes.
“CJ had a nice game, a complete game,” Law said. “That’s the CJ we’ve been waiting for and who we hope to see the rest of the year. But we’re going to need other guys to step up, too.”
Hearn, a 6-1 guard from San Bernardino, Calif., followed Brown with 16 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Mack, a 6-4 forward, had 13 points; junior power forward Michael Melonas, 12 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes; and senior Zach Wilde 10 points and six rebounds.
The Silverswords shot 53 percent (34 of 64) from the field, 27 percent (7 of 26) on 3-pointers and 65 percent (17 of 26) from the free-throw line. UHH hit 56 percent (31 of 55) from the floor, 29 percent (5 of 17) on treys and 76 percent (22 of 29) from the line.
Chaminade also had 34 rebounds, 18 assists, 9 turnovers, 0 blocked shots and 3 steals compared to the Vulcans 32, 17, 11, 1 and 4, respectively.
Chaminade 47 45 — 92
UHH 43 46 — 89
Women
UHH 61, Chaminade 32
Junior Shannon Rousseau scored 14 points and junior Jazlyn Afusia added 10 to lead the Vulcans (overall 7-6, PacWest 4-1) to the lopsided victory over the Silverswords (0-9, 0-3).
Rousseau, a 5-7 small forward from Colorado Springs, Colo., made 5 of 10 field goals, including 3 of 8 treys, and 1 of 2 free throws for her game-high 14 points. She also had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Junior point guard Kirsten Shimizu and senior Hotia Vaaimamao each followed with seven points as UHH coach David Kaneshiro shuffled his lineup through the contest. Twelve Vulcans played and eight scored at least five points or more.
Sophomore Jordan Ahakuelo scored 12 points to lead the Silverswords.
UHH led 27-16 at the intermission and then outscored the visitors 34-16 in the final 20 minutes.
The Vulcans hit 45 percent (25 of 55) from the floor, 21 percent (4 of 19) on treys and 64 percent (7 of 11) from the free-throw line. The Silverswords, under second-year coach Bobby Keanini, shot 22 percent (11 of 51) from the field, 15 percent (3 of 20) on 3-pointers and 58 percent (7 of 12) from the line.
UHH also had 45 rebounds, 14 assists, 20 turnovers, 1 blocked shots and 8 steals compared to the Silverswords’ 30, 6, 21, 0 and 10, respectively.
Chaminade 16 16 — 32
UHH 27 34 — 61
On the road
The UHH basketball teams will now hit the road for PacWest games at Grand Canyon (Jan. 19), Cal Baptist (Jan. 21) and Dixie State (Jan. 24), before returning home to host Cal Baptist on Jan. 28 to start a five-game conference stand in Hilo.