Hawaii 2-0

Thursday, January 5

Honolulu, Hawaii

9:30 PM

California Baptist University

Chaminade

Photo by: Sammi Wellman

1/5/2017 11:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sammi Wellman, Director of Sports Information

HONOLULU — Hoping to close out its Hawaiian getaway on a high note, No. 7-ranked California Baptist University had to get to work Thursday night at Chaminade University. The Lancers came out ready for battle and grabbed a big 88-76 victory over the Silverswords.

CBU improves to 13-1 overall, 5-1 in the PacWest with its fifth-straight win. Chaminade drops to 9-6 on the year, 5-3 in conference.

Five Lancers finished the night in double figures, led by Michael Smith with a game-high 24 points. The senior guard shot 7-for-18 and snagged eight rebounds to help CBU out-rebound the Silverswords 39-to-27.

Jordan Heading chipped in 15 points (6-for-11), while Jason Todd was right on his tail with a career-high 14 points (6-for-12). Casey Norris followed with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while the big man Mason Stuteville scored a career-high 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

Stuteville, Todd and Bul Kuol all added five boards to help in CBU's rebounding efforts to keep Chaminade off the glass.

From the get-go, it was a high-intensity battle as the two teams exchanged leads in the opening 10 minutes of action. Down 12-8 at the first media timeout, Kalidou Diouf swished in a deep jumper and Todd drained a three to give CBU its first lead of the night, 13-12.

Smith gave the Lancers some cushion, 25-19, after draining a three from the right side, but Chaminade closed the gap with five-straight points. Todd cut the run before the Silverswords could get too much momentum, knocking down a triple of his own.

Chaminade took back the lead, 32-30, with six and a half minutes left in the first, but Smith sank two free throws to tie the game for the fourth time. It sparked a 6-0 run to put CBU back in front by two possessions, 36-32.

With a minute left before halftime, Smith finished two chances at the charity stripe to give CBU its largest lead of the night so far, 48-40.

Coming out of the break with a 48-42 cushion, CBU looked to keep the Silverswords on their heels in the second half. The Lancers got off to an explosive start, scoring six-straight points to take their first double-digit lead of the night, 54-42.

The Silverswords wouldn't roll over that easy, though, and took over the lead, 70-69, with just over seven minutes to go. Stuteville gave the Lancers back their lead and Smith drained a three to give his team some cushion, 74-70.

It was a dogfight going down the stretch with CBU holding onto a 77-72 lead.

The Lancers keyed in on defense, getting the stops they needed to stay in front. With less than two minutes left to play, Norris drove to the basket just before the shot clock expired to give CBU an 83-74 lead.

Chaminade turned on the full press, desperate for the Lancers to turn the ball over. The visitors kept their composure, however, as Heading drained a big three from the corner to put his team in front by double-digits, 86-74.

Despite the added pressure, the Lancers made their shots count and sealed the 88-76 victory.

CBU returns to the Mainland with two Hawaiian wins in tow, hoping to keep the good times rolling as the Lancers take on two tough opponents next week. CBU heads to rival Azusa Pacific on Thursday and hosts Concordia on Saturday in the Van Dyne Gym.