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Cougars Edge Chaminade In Men's Hoops, 76-73
11/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 21, 2001
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) - Dominic Smith had 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead Houston to a 76-73 victory over Chaminade on Wednesday in the seventh-place game of the Maui Invitational.
It was the 27th consecutive loss in the event for the Silverswords, who last won a game in their own tournament when they beat Stanford in double overtime to finish seventh in 1992.
The Cougars (1-2), who lost to No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 Kansas in the first two rounds, didn't take the lead for good over Chaminade until there was 4:49 to play.
Neither team led by more than four points over the first 15 minutes of the second half, with 12 lead changes and four ties in that span.
Chaminade, a Division II school from Honolulu best known for its 1982 upset of then-No. 1 Virginia, led 68-64 when Albert Powell made two free throws with 5:35 to play. The Silverswords (0-3) wouldn't score again until there were 29 seconds to play and by then Smith, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, had the Cougars up by five.
Patrick Okafor, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds, gave Houston the lead for good with a jumper that made it 69-68. Smith hit a driving jumper with 2:46 left and sandwiched four free throws around a drive by Chaminade's Leon Ballard to make it 75-70 with 28 seconds left.
Louis Truscott, who had 14 points, made a free throw with 14 seconds left to give Houston a six-point lead and Powell, who had 23 points, hit a 3 with 1.6 seconds left.
It was the sixth loss in the streak by less than 10 points but not the closest for the Silverswords, who are 3-49 in the tournament. DePaul beat Chaminade 57-55 in the consolation semifinals in 1997.
Chaminade's other losses this year in the tournament sponsored by EA Sports were to South Carolina, 74-61, and Seton Hall, 74-62.