The inaugural PacWest tournament will be played at Azusa Pacific near Los Angeles and the second edition at Point Loma Nazarene in the San Diego area in 2014. Both Azusa Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene are new PacWest members and won’t be eligible for NCAA postseason play for two years.
Tribune-Herald
Freshman Lee Bailey scored a game-high 30 points, including 8 of 10 3-pointers, and junior Dominique Cooks had 24 points to lead hot-shooting Chaminade University to a 94-86 win over the University of Hawaii at Hilo on Saturday night.
The Pacific West Conference men’s basketball game was played at McCabe Gym in Honolulu. It was the season finale for both teams.
The host Silverswords finished their season with an 11-14 overall record, including 9-9 in the competitive PacWest. They drained a season-record 17 3-pointers in 30 attempts in fighting past the struggling Vulcans (9-17, 3-15).
“We knew they were going to shoots 3s,” UHH coach Jeff Law said. “I just don’t think we defended it that well. Against Chaminade, you’ve got to play your game, not Chaminade’s. But I thought we played well in spots — they just hit their shots.”
Bailey, a 6-foot guard from Detroit, Mich., was the hottest Sword. He scored 19 of his 30 points in the second half, including five treys. Cooks, a 6-4 guard, made 4 of 5 3-pointers in chalking up 24 points. Teammates Rickey Clayborne (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Benny Murray (10 points, 11 rebounds) dominated the glass when the hosts missed their shots.
“A big difference was their offensive rebounding,” Law said. “But when they needed to make their shots, they did.”
Junior Terrell Mack led the Vulcans with 22 points, including two treys. The Vuls hit a season-high 13 treys in 27 attempts. Senior Dirk Snel led the long-range attack, making 5 of 12 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Junior Kiel Myers added 12 points and 3 of 3 treys.
Chaminade led 45-40 at the halftime and outscored the visitors 49-46 in the second half.
Law and his staff met with the team after Saturday’s loss to talk about next year.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “My recruiting goal for next year is find people who will compete for all of the spots on this year’s team. Nobody is guaranteed a spot on next year’s team.”
Law will leave for the mainland today to recruit.
Heading into Saturday’s final games, Dixie State (15-2) had already clinched the PacWest title and the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division II tournament. Brigham Young University-Hawaii (13-4) was in second and Grand Canyon (12-5) third.
At McCabe Gym
UHH 40 46 — 86
Chaminade 45 49 — 94
Women
* UHH 64, Chaminade 44: Senior Hillary Hurley had a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds and junior Jameia McDuffie added 11 points to lead the Vulcans (14-12, 11-7) to a come-from-behind win over the Silverswords (1-23, 1-17) in their season finale.
The Vulcans, under second-year coach David Kaneshiro, finished in sixth place in the final PacWest standings, their best showing in the program’s six years of play.
“We all wish we could have won a few more games, but I’m really proud to have coached this group of players,” Kaneshiro said. “This team had really good team chemistry and worked hard all the time.”
The Vulcans trailed by 11 points early in the contest before taking a 31-26 lead into the intermission. They then outscored the Silverswords 33-18 in the second half, holding the hosts to only three field goals in 16 attempts.
“We started slow but played a lot better in the final 30 minutes,” Kaneshiro said.
Hurley, a 6-2 power forward, recorded her fifth straight double-double in leading the UHH charge.
Kaneshiro called Hurley “the best player in the conference.”
“Hillary may be the best player in this program’s short history,” the coach said.
Junior guard Kirsty Imai followed McDuffie with nine points.
Sophomore Jordan Ahakuelo led Chaminade with 17 points and senior Kelly Costello had 14.
Heading into Saturday’s final games, Grand Canyon University (15-3) had already clinched a share of the PacWest title and the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division II tournament.
Grand Canyon beat Dixie State 71-54 in Saturday’s finale in Phoenix. Cal Baptist and Dixie State were tied for second with 13-4 marks going into Saturday’s action.
At McCabe Gym
UHH 31 33 — 64
Chaminade 26 18 — 44
PacWest tourney
The PacWest presidents have approved a six-team conference championship tournament for men’s and women’s basketball starting in the 2012-13 season.
The presidents approved the event during the league’s winter conference call on Feb. 28 and included a two-year commitment to a six-team tournament played on a neutral court. The tournament will be held the second week of March, with the title game on a Saturday night.
The inaugural PacWest tournament will be played at Azusa Pacific near Los Angeles and the second edition at Point Loma Nazarene in the San Diego area in 2014. Both Azusa Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene are new PacWest members and won’t be eligible for NCAA postseason play for two years.