Posted at 11:57 a.m., Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Chaminade close again, but falls to LSU in Maui hoops
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
Paced by senior Hayden Heiber's 25 points, including 7 of 10 from 3-point range, the Silverswords (1-2) hung with the Tigers (3-1) for much of the game before falling 78-72 in the consolation round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
"The last two days we feel we could have won both games it's a little frustrating but we've got one more game," said Heiber. "We let two slip away but they were both really good teams.
"We feel like we're in the game the entire time. Hopefully we'll keep on going and get a win tomorrow."
Chaminade will play the loser of the Arizona State-Princeton game for seventh place 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Tiger freshmen forward Anthony Randolph rebounded from a five-point performance in LSU's opening round loss to Oklahoma State by scoring 21 points, including two key free throws with 18 seconds left to secure the win for LSU.
"We are a work in progress. Make no mistake I'd rather have a win than a loss. Chaminade is a well coached team and they did the things necessary to win that game," said LSU coach John Brady. "They played well enough to win the game, at the end we made some athletic plays and outran them a little bit and hit enough free throws to win. This was a trap game and thankfully we survived."
One night after scoring a career high 19 points in a 83-77 loss to Oklahoma State, center Chris Johnson scored 18 and grabbed 11 boards as four Tiger starters scored in double figures.
As a team, the Tigers shot 47 percent from the field but were out rebounded 45-41.
The Silverswords paired Heiber's hot hand with another great effort from their big men.
Silverswords senior center Marko Kolaric scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double double in as many days.
Kolaric scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against 11 ranked Marquette on Monday.
Junior forward Rodrick Johnson also scored in double figures for the second straight day, notching and 11 points. Johnson also grabbed 13 rebounds and the height heavy Silverswords out rebounded a division one opponent for the second straight day.
"Our guys played really hard we're happy, we've got one more day we're going to try and forget about this one quick," said Chaminade coach Matt Mahar. "We're a lot bigger than we were in the past and it certainly showed here, out rebounding both teams over the past two days. Marko in particular has been playing really really well."
