A Tough Blow

Thursday, January 29

Honolulu, HI

9:30 PM

California Baptist University

9-215-3/ PacWest

Chaminade

5-68-9/ PacWest

California Baptist

Chaminade

Photo by: Sammi Wellman

1/29/2015 11:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sammi Sheppard, Director of Sports Information

HONOLULU, Hawaii — No. 16-ranked California Baptist University is in its toughest stretch of the regular season, proving there are no days off from competing. Chaminade gave the Lancers tough competition Thursday night, taking the game 79-77.

The Lancers drop to 15-3 overall, 9-2 in the PacWest. The Silverswords improve to 8-9 on the season and 5-6 in conference.

Ryan Berg led the Lancers with 24 points on the night (9-for-20). Michael Smith followed with 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting, while Gelaun Wheelwright (5-for-12) and Taj Spencer (5-for-10) rounded out the quartet scoring in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Spencer also added nine rebounds, just one shy of a double-double.

From the get-go, CBU knew it was in for a battle against the Silverswords. Each time the Lancers tried to build up a lead, Chaminade had a response. The fast-paced action was back-and-forth to open the game with neither team taking more than a five-point lead in the first half.

Down 10-8, the Lancers went on a 7-0 run to grab a little room to breathe at 15-10. Spencer sparked the run by slamming in a dunk and went on to score six of the seven points.

Still, Chaminade was right on CBU's tail, evening the score at 23-23 with under five minutes before halftime. The Silverswords took a four-point lead with under two minutes left in the frame, but it was CBU who would go into halftime with momentum.

Berg stole the ball away and laid it in on the fast break to cut the margin to two. Another Chaminade turnover put the Lancers back on the attack as Smith got a shot off just before the halftime buzzer, tying the game at 29-29. He drew a foul in the process and finished his free throw to put CBU in front 30-29 at the break.

The Lancers kept their momentum rolling in the second half, opening up to a 38-33 lead off a Chris Brown steal to a Wheelwright layup.

CBU kept its pace, but couldn't quite shake the Silverswords. Eric Hunt crashed the net and tipped in a put-back, but Chaminade answered back. With less than 10 minutes remaining, the home team pulled within two, 54-52.

The score remained close, but the foul count racked up against CBU to put Chaminade in the double bonus heading down the stretch.

With less than three minutes on the clock and the Lancers down 73-67, Berg drove hard to the basket and knocked it in off the backboard to come within four. Spencer snatched a crucial defensive rebound to keep the Silverswords from getting a second chance and Berg added two more.

Down by four with 56.5 seconds left in the game, CBU had one last push. Smith made a crucial three-pointer to put the game within reach at 76-74, but a foul sent Chaminade's Kuany Kuany to the line where he finished both chances.

Berg hit a three to put the score at 78-77. Chaminade made a free throw to go back in front by two. Only 1.2 seconds were left with Smith at the line. Smith missed the shot to give the Lancers a chance at the rebound, but despite Eric Nelson going down on the play, no foul was called to seal the Silverswords' victory, 79-77.

CBU continues its time in Hawaii, heading to the North Shore Saturday for a 9:30 p.m. PST ranked showdown. The Lancers will look to bounce back against the No. 17 Seasiders, who beat No. 14 Azusa Pacific 92-78.