HONOLULU, Hawai'i—Dominican men's basketball held an early lead over Chaminade University, but was unable to contain the Silverswords in the second half, falling 91-71 Monday night at McCabe Gymnasium. 
 
Chaminade (9-6, 7-3 PacWest) was led by Tyler Cartaino, who finished with 26 points while going 12-of-17 from the field and adding three rebounds, three blocks, and two assists. Eliet Donley finished 7-of-9 from the field, racking up 18 points, three assists, two rebounds, one steal and a block. The Silverswords shot 57.8% from the field and forced Dominican to commit 13 turnovers to dominate the Penguins on both ends of the floor.
 
Sam Averbuck led the Penguins (2-13, 2-7 PacWest), recording a season high of 22 points, going 9-of-12 from the field, and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc while also collecting three rebounds. Lazar Djurovic scored 10 points, while adding three rebounds and two assists. 
 
The Penguins started the game on a strong foot after Mateen Hirbod passed it ahead to Averbuck for a lay-up in transition, and Jordan Williams stripped the ball from Donley and took it the other way for a lay-up on the following possession, helping Dominican earn an 8-4 lead over the Silverswords. Donley responded with a floater in the lane before the Penguins kick started a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 15-6 with 13:32 left to go in the half. 
 
Chaminade cut the difference to 17-14 by going on a 11-2 run, as Kendall Small stole a pass from Jaelen Ragsdale and took it the other way for the lay-up off the glass. Dominican and Chaminade traded buckets until Averbuck was able to help the Penguins escape the Silverswords' full-court press, finding Djurovic under the basket for an uncontested lay-up to put the Penguins back in the lead, 26-20 with 7:38 left in the first half. 
 
Chaminade fought back to make it a one-point game as Kevin Kremer grabbed an offensive board and kicked it out to Andre Arissol on the perimeter for a three. The Silverswords continued their upbeat momentum, taking a 29-26 lead over the Penguins as Kremer lobbed a pass to Donley in transition to hammer down a dunk. Romeo Mays responded with a three-pointer on the opposite end to tie the game, but CUH erupted offensively, going on a 17-6 run to take a 46-35 lead going into halftime. 
 
Mays led the Penguins out of the locker room, backing down his defender and drawing a foul, earning the basket and completing the three-point play from the foul line. Before the Penguins could catch fire, Small responded on the other end with an open three from the wing to help Chaminade sustain the 11-point lead. CUH continued to control the pace of play, extending their lead to 18 when Roman Young hit another open three from beyond the arc to force Dominican Head Coach Booker T. Harris to call a timeout just 5:14 into the half with Chaminade in the driver's seat, leading 60-42. Chaminade would go on to lead by as many as 32 with 8:12 left to go in regulation, and the Penguins were unable to slow down the Silverswords down the stretch. 
 
Dominican returns to the Conlan Center this Friday to host Academy of Art University for Gold Rush Night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PST, and live video and stats will be available online.