Men's Basketball

MBB Weekly--'Swords Upset Saints, While Cougars, Vulcans and Sea Lions go 2-0

Three Pacific West Conference men’s teams went unbeaten last week, but the Azusa Pacific Cougars earned the Team of the Week with big wins over Academy of Art and Dominican. Ross Reeves of Chaminade jacked up 34 points in an upset over then-No. 2 regionally ranked Saint Martin’s to gain the Player of the Week and Luke Haupt earned his coach’s respect with solid defensive work for Point Loma.

2022-23 Results/Schedule
2022-23 Standings
2022-23 Statistics
D2SIDA West Region Poll

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Chaminade’s Ross Reeves, G, Fr., 6-4, 175, Orem, Utah                                                   
Left-handed sharpshooter Ross Reeves put up consistent numbers all week as Chaminade played five games in seven days. He averaged 21.4 points per game during that span, hit 13 of 14 free throw attempts and shot 55 percent from the field. But he was especially effective against No. 18 nationally ranked Saint Martin’s during the Silverswords’ 107-97 overtime win. He put 34 points on the board, including five in overtime when Chaminade outscored SMU, 23-12. The redshirt freshman hit 7 of 11 three-point shots and also had four assists. On the season, the Utah native is averaging 18.4 points per game with 2.8 treys a contest, both fourth in the PacWest. He leads the conference in free throw percentage (.914), nailing 32 of his 35 attempts.
 
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Point Loma’s Luke Haupt, F, Soph., 6-6, 220, San Diego, Calif.                                
Point Loma sophomore Luke Haupt helped his team on the defensive end as the Sea Lions held Fresno Pacific to 54 points and Holy Names to 59 in lopsided PLNU wins. Haupt had four steals against the Sunbirds and had a balanced night of 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists against the Hawks. The Sea Lions, 10-3 overall, are allowing opponents just 66.2 points a game. “Luke has consistently shut down opposing teams best offensive players,” said his coach Matt Logie. “Additionally, he quarterbacks our defense. I am not sure that there is a more impactful defensive player in the region.”

COUGARS WIN TWO BIG GAMES TO LAND AWARD: The PacWest Team of the Week is the AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS. Point Loma and Hawaii Hilo also went 2-0 last week, but the Cougars had really big wins over Academy of Art (61-57) and Dominican (78-65). Against the Urban Knights, nine different players scored for the Cougars, led by Nate Kleppe and McKelary Robertson’s 10 points each. The Cougars did most of their good work on the defensive end, forcing ART U into 21 turnovers. Against Dominican, Ken West bombed home 23 points as the Cougars improved to 10-3 on the season and to 5-1 in the PacWest.

PACWEST HAS FIVE OF TEN: In today’s D2SIDA west region poll, the PacWest has five of the ten teams listed. Point Loma highlighted the movement, grabbing the No. 2 slot and also moving into the national Top 25 at No. 22. Here is the west region list. (1) Cal State San Bernardino 7-1, (2) Point Loma 10-3, (3) Saint Martin’s 10-2, (4) Azusa Pacific 10-3, (5) Western Washington 7-3, (6) Hawaii Hilo 7-1, (7) Cal Poly Pomona 6-2, (8) Montana State Billings 8-4, (9) Academy of Art 7-4, (10) Biola 7-5.

FOUR TEAMS CLIMB TO THE TOP IN EARLY SEASON STANDINGS: The top four teams in the PacWest are within two games of each other in an early look at the standings before Christmas. Point Loma is 6-0, Hawaii Hilo is 3-0, Azusa Pacific is 5-1 and Dominican checks in at 4-2. Of course, it’s early with 20 total games to be played in the PacWest, with the ultimate goal to be in the final top six and qualify for the PacWest Tournament, March 2-4 in Honolulu.

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Preseason PacWest Player of the Year Kaden Anderson had another pair of solid games in two Point Loma wins. The 6-8 forward had 26 points and six rebounds against Fresno Pacific and added 20 points and 11 boards against Holy Names…Scott Ator of Chaminade had 13 blocked shots in five games (2.6 per game)…2021-22 First Team All-PacWest selection Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones averaged 18.5 points, nine rebounds, four assists and shot 61 percent from the field as Hawaii Hilo won two contests to claim the Big Island Classic…Holy Names and Chaminade had a wild one in Oakland during the Hawk’s 92-91 win. HNU scored twice in the final ten seconds to erase a Silversword comeback. Dale Currie had 21 points for Holy Names and Roman Behrans added 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Ross Reeves had 26 for Chaminade and Isaac Armaral-Artharee passed the career 1,000 point barrier…Chaminade lost another heartbreaker two days later, 74-73 at the hands of Dominican. Jaaylen Bush had 17 points, including the game winner for the Penguins…The Penguins also stunned Biola with a 91-86 win, paced by PJ Volz’s 29 points. Alex Wright had 15 points, seven boards, five assists and four steals in a losing cause for Biola…Mike Asante had 14 rebounds in Academy of Art’s 61-57 loss to Azusa Pacific. ART U's Klay Brown had 18 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal…Brian Gorake had 22 points in Point Loma’s win over Holy Names…Marquis Moore put up 30 for Hawaii Pacific during their 79-73 loss to Simon Fraser…Chaminade’s Braden Olson had 11 assists as the Silverswords beat St. Edwards, 84-70…Fresno Pacific clubbed Concordia (81-63) behind Darrin Person’s 19 points. Bryce Fitzgerald had 22 points for the Golden Eagles…Deang Deang had 19 points in Academy of Art’s 98-72 win over Biola…Hawaii Pacific lost by just one point (70-69) to then-No. 3 regionally ranked Western Washington. Marquis Moore had 19 points and 11 rebounds.

BREAKING FOR THE HOLIDAYS: All teams in NCAA Division II now take the mandatory week off for the holidays. Action will resume on December 29 with Hawaii Pacific hosting Champion Christian and Point Loma welcomes San Diego Christian. PacWest play begins on Dec. 30 with Academy of Art visiting Holy Names and Dominican traveling to Fresno Pacific. The 2022 calendar ends on the 31st with Biola hosting La Sierra while Chaminade travels to UH Hilo.