HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University closed the Covid-impacted 2020-21 season on Wednesday night with an 80-69 PacWest Conference loss to cross-town rival Chaminade at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (3-9, 3-9) and the Silverswords (4-6, 4-6) split the season series 3-3 as CUH took second in the Hawai'i Pod.
 
HPU welcomed the return of senior David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark, who played for the first time in two games to lead the Sharks with a game-high 23 points. Sophomore Lachlan Viney of Melbourne, Australia/Mazenod added 17 points with five assists, while sophomore Colton Martin of Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound scored eight points with a game-high seven rebounds. Senior Chidozie Ndu of Lagos, Nigeria/Sunrise Christian Academy (Kan.) also grabbed seven boards for HPU.
 
Chaminade had very balanced scoring, with Malik Parsons, Kevin Kremer and Patrick Renane each scored 12 points, with Kremer pulling down six rebounds. Jessiya Villa posted 11 poijnts, while Sawyer Storms and DeRay Seamster adding 10 apiece.
 
The Sharks shot 42 percent from the floor (20-of-48), including 9-of-27 (33 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU made a strong 20-of-24 (83 percent) shots from the charity stripe. Chaminade shot an outstanding 51 percent from the field (34-of-67), but still just 27 percent (4-of-15) from the arc. The Swords hit just 8-of-17 (47 percent) from the foul line. HPU outrebounded Chaminade 37-31, but suffered 23 turnovers allowing CUH to score 29 points as the Swords allowed just two points from their seven giveaways.
 
The Swords jumped out to a quick four-point lead before the Sharks got a jumper from Viney and a layup from Ndu to tie the game at 4-4. But that was the last time HPU had the score knotted. Chaminade followed with an 8-0 run to establish the lead. After the Swords gained a 14-point first half advantage, the Sharks chipped back and pulled within nine on a Rowlands 3-pointer just before the horn to go into halftime down 41-32.
 
HPU opened the second half with a 6-2 run to close the gap to five points at 43-38 in the first two minutes of the period. But Chaminade returned the favor with a 21-6 run to take a 20-point 64-44 lead with 8:47 to play.
 
CUH pushed the advantage out to 26 points with four minutes to play before HPU rallied with a 17-2 run to close the game with Rowlands scoring the last eight points to send the game to an 80-69 final.
 
The Sharks wrapped up one of the most unusual seasons in history with the contest.