The BYU–Hawaii men’s basketball team was unable to complete a sweep of the Hawaii schools as they fell to in-state rival Chaminade, 102-99 on Dec. 19. The loss came three nights after the Seasiders won an intense back and forth game against Hawaii Pacific University, 97-91.
Scott Friel and Tanner Nelson received some recognition by the PacWest conference for their outstanding play. Nelson was named PacWest freshman of the week after scoring 17 points against both HPU and Chaminade.
Scott Friel was named PacWest player of the week after recovering from a foul plagued performance against HPU to score a career high 35 points along with 15 rebounds.
The Seasiders could not finish the comeback against Chaminade, as both team battled back and forth in a high scoring second half.
Along with Friel, Ian Harward finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Brody Berry led the team in assists with 5, as Berry saw an increase in minutes due to Justin Yamzon finding himself in foul trouble. A last-second 3-pointer by Chaminade was all that could separate the two teams as the two high-powered offenses traded baskets.
The second half saw both offenses continuing to score at will. Chaminade was able to take a nine-point lead in the second half, however a seven-point run by the Seasiders cut the lead to one.
The Silverswords put together a 5-0 run with under a minute left to take the five-point lead. The Seasiders could not comeback from this deficit as Cory Lange and Yamzon missed 3-point attempts to tie the game.
“This was a tough loss especially since we were so close but moving forward we will definitely have to make some defensive adjustments,” said Yamzon, an exercise and science major from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Three nights earlier it was Yamzon led the Seasiders to a tight win over HPU. Yamzon finished the game with a team-high 23 points. Due to fouling out after a technical foul the Seasiders were without Friel for most of the second half.
However, Justin Park had a big game off the bench scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds. “It was unfortunate that Friel fouled out so early but I was glad that I was able to step up and help my team win,” said Park, a sophomore International Cultural Studies major from Arizona.
After falling behind by six going into halftime, the Seasiders rallied to outscore HPU 59-47 in the second half. It looked like HPU would run away with the game in the second half as they went on a 9-0 run. The Seasiders responded as Yamzon cashed in on a four point opportunity after getting fouled on a made 3-pointer.
This started the Seasiders on a 10-2 run, capped off by a steal and basket by Gabe Andrade that tied the game at 62-62. A big three by Yamzon after stopping on a dime gave the Seasiders their first lead of the half at 69-68. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Lange and Nelson pushed the lead to nine with three minutes left as the Seasiders closed the game out winning 97-91.
“This was a great team win, what I am most proud of was how the team responded in the second half, especially after being outrebounded in the first half,” said Head Coach Ken Wagner.
The Seasiders are currently 3-1 in conference play and are in third place. After the Christmas break the Seasiders will go on a three game road trip in Northern California to face Dominican, Fresno Pacific, and Holy Names.