HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University made it two in a row on Wednesday night as they held off cross-town rival Chaminade 81-77 in a PacWest Conference contest at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (2-6, 2-6) posted an 8-2 run after allowing the Silverswords (3-3, 3-3) to take a one-point lead with just under four minutes to play. HPU never allowed CUH more than a one-point advantage at any time during the contest and held as much as a 13-point second half lead.
 
Junior Jacob Foy of Newcastle, Australia/St. Francis Xavier led the Sharks with 27 points to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots. Senior David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark, recorded 20 points with a game-highs of seven rebounds and five assists, while junior Rodney Hounshell of Richmond, Va./West Linn (Ore.) added 18 points.
 
Chaminade was paced by Isaac Amaral-Artharee with 27 points, as Kevin Kremer posted 15 points with six boards and Jessiya Villa added 13 points.
 
For the second consecutive game, HPU held Chaminade to just 26 percent from the 3-point arc. CUH, who led all of Division II with 12.8 treys a game, made only 6-of-23 from the arc. The Swords shot 45 percent (28-of-62) from the floor, that included the 3-pointers, and 15-of-22 (68 percent) from the foul line.
 
HPU shot an outstanding 53 percent (29-of-55), including 8-of-19 (42 percent) from the arc. The Sharks were nearly perfect from the free throw stripe, making 15-of-16 (94 percent). HPU won the rebound war 35-30, but suffered 13 turnovers to the Swords eight.
 
The Sharks opened up an early six-point lead in the first half, but lost it to the Swords before Foy hit a fast-break layup to key a 10-0 run to claim a 19-10 advantage. HPU pushed it to a 14-2 run to lead by 11 midway through the half. The Sharks led by 13 on a Hounshell 3-pointer before the Swords chipped the lead back to five at halftime 37-32.
 
HPU opened the second half on a 14-4 run capped by Hounshell's fast-break layup to claim a 15-point lead in the first five-and-a half minutes. But the Swords answered with a 13-0 run that turned into a 16-2 run to pull Chaminade within a point with seven-and-a half minutes to play.
 
The Sharks and Swords swapped scores over the next two minutes until Chaminade totally erased the HPU lead and claim the 70-69 lead with 3:53 to go on a pair of Kremer free throws. HPU answered with a pair of Foy charity tosses to regain the lead and start the 8-2 run to put the Sharks up with a Foy trey and two free throws. CUH fought back with a Villa jumper and a 3-pointer from Amaral-Artharee to trim the lead to two at 79-77 with 12 seconds to go, only to have Rowlands calmly hit two free throws in the waning seconds to secure the triumph.
 
After having played six times in the last 11 days, the Sharks get a week off before traveling back to the Big Island to face Hawai'i Hilo for a pair of games next week. HPU meets UH Hilo at Vulcan Gym on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., then faces the Vulcans for the final time of the year on Thursday at 3 p.m.