JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM BYUH's Austin Smylie put up a shot against the defense of Chaminade's Danny Jackson, left, and Chris Powell last night at McCabe Gym. Smylie scored a game-high 24 points.

BYUH gets big win at Chaminade

Austin Smylie scored 24 points and Danny Jackson hit the go-ahead 3-pointer as Brigham Young-Hawaii defeated Chaminade 66-64 in a critical PacWest basketball game last night at McCabe Gym.

The Seasiders held off a late rally by the conference-leading Silverswords, improving to 11-8, 4-3 in conference play. Chris Powell led Chaminade (14-7, 6-2) with 18 points and Chris Reaves added 10.

Down by 15 at halftime, Chaminade cut into the deficit when Reaves finally made some baskets. Held scoreless in the first half, Reaves scored eight points early in the second as Chaminade closed to 47-39 with less than 13 minutes remaining.

Chaminade toughened up its defense by forcing BYUH to take outside shots. BYUH struggled to find looks at the basket as the Silverswords used a 12-5 run to close to 59-57 with 5 minutes remaining. Chaminade double-teamed Smylie, forcing his teammates to shoot.

"We got tentative instead of attacking," BYUH coach Ken Wagner said. "Chaminade is such a good shooting team that they'll punish you."

"He's our best player, so you expect him to play hard anytime."

After a Seasider turnover, Chris Nelson hit a 3-pointer from the left baseline to give Chaminade a 60-59 lead with 4:45 left, its first lead since it scored the game's first basket.

Both teams went scoreless until Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put BYUH up for good at 62-60. Chaminade couldn't score on the next two possessions, and two free throws by Smylie with 35 seconds left gave BYUH a 64-60 lead.

"That time we got the ball to our best shooter," Wagner said.

Powell hit a basket to make it 64-62 with 25 seconds left, but Paul Peterson made one of two free throws with 24 seconds remaining for BYUH. Chaminade's Zack Whiting was then fouled by Peterson while attempting a 3-pointer, but made just two of three attempts with 10 seconds remaining. Eric Boyce then made just one free throw for BYUH, and a last-chance 3-pointer by Reaves fell short.

The Silverswords were done in by 34 percent shooting in the first half, including an 0-for-11 showing from 3-point range, and a big run by BYUH. Paul Peterson and Austin Smylie scored five points each during a 14-2 BYUH run midway through the first half that opened up the game.

The Seasiders led by as many as 17 and held a 37-22 halftime lead.