HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University defended the perimeter and took advantage of its own strong outside-in play to win its first game of the season with an 83-80 PacWest Conference win against home-standing Chaminade on Saturday afternoon at McCabe Gym.
 
The Sharks (1-6, 1-6) used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to take control from the Silverswords (3-2, 3-2). The Swords fought back for an 80-79 lead with 1:32 to play, but HPU answered at the foul line and held off CUH on the defensive end.
 
Junior Rodney Hounshell of Richmond, Va./West Linn (Ore.) starred for HPU, with a game-leading 22 points that included him hitting 4-of-4 from the 3-point arc and 4-4 from the foul line. He collected eight points himself during the 11-0 run in the second half and hit the go ahead free throws in the final minute.
 
Sophomore Colton Martin of Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound added 16 points for HPU, as senior David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark, and senior Tavon Tarpley of McLean, Va./Langley each added 12 points. Junior Jacob Foy of Newcastle, Australia/St. Francis Xavier led HPU with eight rebounds to go with eight points.
 
Chaminade was led by Jessiya Villa with 18 points and five assists, with Malik Parsons chipping in 13 points and Roman Young 12. Kevin Kremer, Isaac Amaral-Artharee and DeRay Seamster all scored 10 points, with Kremer grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.
 
HPU shot 47 percent (28-of-60) from the floor, with 7-of-21 (33 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks connected on 20-of-24 (83 percent) from the free throw line. Chaminade shot 41 percent from the field (29-of-70), but just 28 percent (10-of-36) from the arc. The Swords hit 12-of-14 (86 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU outrebounded CUH 38-32, and but suffered 17 turnovers to the Swords 11.
 
HPU opened the game with a 12-4 run to take the Sharks largest lead of the game at the 16:54 mark of the opening half on a Tarpley free throw. The Sharks still had an eight-point advantage with 14:36 left in the half when the Swords got a Villa jumper to start an 11-0 to take the lead.
 
The teams swapped the lead the rest of the first half and ended the half tied at 42-all.
 
The Silverswords controlled the second half, building a six-point 58-52 lead until Hounshell took over. He hit a 3-pointer that the Swords answered, made two free throws and buried consecutive 3-pointers to tie the game. Foy followed with a 3-pointer for the lead that HPU held until Chaminade came back to claim the 80-79 advantage on a pair of Kremer free throws with 1:44 left.
 
Hounshell was fouled with 1:32 left and made both free throws to give HPU an 81-80 advantage. Then after two missed CUH attempts HPU junior Jacob McEnroe of Honolulu/Farrington was fouled with 1:10 to play. McEnroe calmly hit both ends of the 1-and-1 for the three-point 83-80 advantage.
 
Defense came on strong in the final minute, as HPU forced a Sword turnover, then forced two missed 3-point attempts by CUH to hang on for the victory.
 
The two teams will get a few days rest before meeting for the fourth time in eight days at the HPU Shark Tank. Tipoff time is slated for 7:30 p.m.