COSTA MESA – Men's basketball suffered its first Pacific West Conference loss of the campaign in a 75-67 loss to Chaminade on Monday evening at the Freed Center. Though the Lions squeezed out a first-half lead, they never looked comfortable against the fast-paced Silverswords. The Lions would suffer a season-high 20 turnovers, the second highest in 2025 and most since their previous matchup with CUH in January (21 turnovers). They also committed 28 fouls to CUH's 16, a margin that lopsided the free-throw attempts (33-14 CUH) between both teams and handed the Swords the win on an 8-2 run in the final three minutes.

VU dropped to 5-3, 1-1 in the league. CUH wins their third in a row, improving to 5-4 and 3-0 in PacWest play.

Aibigho Ujadughele led the Lions with his second double-double in as many games, finishing with 16 points (7-11), 10 rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Erik Howlin was the only other Lion in double-figures, netting 11 points and three assists. Dylan Swillis came off the bench for nine points on an efficient 4-7 shooting to go with four boards. Kailen Rains had eight points in the loss, while Sammy Howlin had seven points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes before fouling out.

What Happened? CUH's well-known breakneck pace was apparent in the early stages. The Lions shot 46% (27-59) for the match and swelted against CUH's sharp press to committing two early turnovers. The Swords also cleaned up on second chance points to lead 7-2.

Howlin had five straight points to bring the Lions within two (9-7 CUH), and four paint points split between Ujadughele and Swillis sent the game into its first of eventual six ties.

The Lion bench, which went on to outscore the Swords 29-19, used a boost from Tony Colley and Carson Frawley to keep within striking distance of the visitors. Colley hit a three from the left corner (16-16) and capped off the 8-6 Vanguard run with a right corner trey to sneak the Lions out to a 24-22 lead.

The Swords' stale three-point shooting (2-8) in the frame started to take its toll as the Lions worked their way into controlling the scoring flow in the latter stages of the half. Chaminade stayed competitive with forced turnovers and free throws, as they shot 17 first-half free throws compared to VU's three, as Vanguard was unable to pull away.

The half concluded with a 7-4 VU run spearheaded by Frawley, who flushed down a dunk within two seconds of subbing before sinking a three off the rolling assist from Bryson Metz.

The 35-33 Vanguard lead to start the second half was anything but certain after action got back underway. The Lions matched their 10 turnovers from the first period and, more importantly, could not keep a lid on their foul trouble, as three players garnered at least four fouls and four other Lions were pinned back with three fouls.

Chaminade also found their groove from beyond the arc (5-11) and continued their lopsided load up at the charity stripe, hitting 13-16 free throws.

Rains connected for a three-ball to get play underway, and Pape Cisse took just his fourth and free throws of the season for a 39-37 VU score. Rains continued to have the hot hand to open the half, scoring five points in a row to take the Lions up 45-40.

The Lions kept the Swords at a five- to six-point deficit for the next 12 minutes of game time, where CUH remained ready on the hunt, and the Lions anchored themselves in costly fouls, which swelled into an early free-throw bonus for Chaminade.

Metz was pinched with back-to-back fouls to stay glued at four total, and CUH scored in transition and finished off a tip-in for a one-point game (60-59 VU). Sammy Howlin continued to demand attention from CUH defensively, but fouled out as the Silverswords put together a two-point lead (67-65) off more free throws.

The game fell apart for the Blue and Gold in the last three minutes as they would score just one more bucket. The Swords took a smart timeout to set up for a go-ahead three-pointer to go up five with 20 seconds left, and the Lions could not flip the score, as a costly turnover and foul concluded the PacWest home loss.

What's Next? Men's basketball plays the final game of 2025 with a matchup against Fresno Pacific on Saturday at 4 pm.