HONOLULU, Hawai'i – In a battle between the PacWest's top two teams in scoring, Vanguard and Chaminade combined for the conference's highest single-game point total this season on Saturday afternoon at McCabe Gym.
Unfortunately for the Lions, the Silverswords prevailed 100-91, exploiting VU's 21 turnovers and milking them for 25 points. The Lions also could not locate reserve guard Jamir Thomas, who skewered the Blue and Gold for 28 points on 8 of 15 shooting from distance.
Thomas was one of five 'Swords who scored in double figures. Fletcher MacDonald notched 18 points on 8 of 9 shooting to go along with four blocks, followed by Kameron Ng with 14 points, 13 from Jackson Last and 10 from Roland Banks II.
Chaminade (11-3, 5-2 PacWest) was equally explosive in both halves, scoring an identical 50 points with 17 made field goals. The 'Swords actually picked up their efficiency in the second stanza as they shot 51.5 (17 of 33) percent overall, including 7 of 14 from three.
Vanguard, which trailed by double digits for the majority of the second half, received a game-high tying 28 points from guard Anthony Tello. The senior did all he could to keep VU afloat, as he shot 9 of 18 overall and knocked down three triples. He added four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Devin Carson drew his first career start and responded with a career-best 14 points. He had a pair of threes as VU finished 11 of 23 (47.8%) overall from beyond the arc. VU shot far better from distance than on two-pointers (20 of 50), largely due to a slew of missed layups throughout the contest.
Also scoring in double figures for the Lions was Bryson Metz with 13 points and Jackson Larsen with 10. Robert Aguirre Jr. splashed three triples and finished with a career-high nine points in 15 minutes off the bench.
Vanguard returns to the mainland 8-4 overall and 2-4 in the PacWest after allowing Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade to score a combined 180 points – the most anyone has tallied in back-to-back games against the Blue and Gold this season.
What Happened?: The Lions opened the game with a Metz three-pointer and held an 11-8 lead on Carson's fast break layup at the 15:51 mark. Thomas hit the first of his eight treys to give the 'Swords a 12-11 lead, but a VU dunk from Pape Cisse handed the Lions a 14-12 advantage.
That would be VU's last lead of the game as Chaminade embarked on a 15-2 run, propelled by two more Thomas threes and a triple from Last.
Trailing 27-16, the Lions stopped the floodgates temporarily as Tello hit from downtown, but the 'Swords slithered inside for back-to-back layups to extend the lead to 31-19.
Aguirre Jr. sandwiched a pair of threes around a Aibigho Ujadughele layup – the VU bench sparking an 8-0 run – and cutting the deficit to 31-27 at the eight minute mark. Aguirre Jr. hit another dagger three to keep VU within 34-30.
After Tello's two free throws narrowed the gap again to four, 38-34, the 'Swords went on a punishing 12-0 run to seize control of the game. Chaminade made buckets on four consecutive trips down the floor – all inside the paint – and went 4 of 4 at the line to boot.
Larsen's layup with one tick left on the clock brought VU within 50-36 at halftime.
VU scored five straight out of the break to cut Chaminade's lead down to 50-41, but the 'Swords responded with a 7-0 run to open up a 16-point bulge.Â
The 'Swords were relentless as MacDonald continued to hurt the Lions inside, hitting back-to-back layups for a 62-45 lead with 16:04 to go. The home team still led by 17, 82-65, on yet another Thomas triple with just over nine minutes to play.
VU had one last push as Metz, Ujadughele and Tello sparked a 7-0 run to whittle the deficit to 82-72. But seven straight points from Ng denied the Lions the defensive stops they needed to further dent the deficit.
Chaminade extended its lead to 96-78 before a late 10-1 Lion run got the deficit down to 97-88, but by then the damage had been done.Â
What's Next?: The Lions make the short trek down the 405 Freeway to tangle with CUI on Thursday, January 9 at 7:30 p.m.
