COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Chaminade nets No. 3 seed in D-II West Regional
Chaminade is breaking into new territory.
The Silverswords basketball team (18-8) received the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Division II West Regional tournament yesterday.
Chaminade -- led by guards Chris Reaves and Zack Whiting, forward Chris Nelson and swingman Chris Powell -- has never been to an NCAA tournament before.
The team also set a school record with 18 wins.
The Pacific West Conference champion Silverswords play Alaska-Anchorage (19-11) on Friday at Seattle Pacific University in the opening round. The time will be determined.
"This means a ton, the first time in an NCAA Division II tournament," first-year Silverswords coach Matt Mahar said. "It's big for our five seniors and for the whole school. We've got a lot more of a crowd following us this year. Everybody's excited about it"
Mahar is optimistic about the team's chances.
"It's anybody's ball game," he said. "The teams, one through eight, are pretty evenly matched."
The guard tandem of Reaves, a senior, and Whiting, a junior, is a key to the team's fortunes, according to the coach.
"Zack is a big, 6-foot-3 guy playing the point," Mahar said. "And because of his offensive ability, it forces teams to use the 3 (forward) to guard him, giving us an advantage (elsewhere).
"Reaves is just a tremendous offensive player who is very hard to stop."
Chaminade's other seniors are Powell, Nelson and guards Corey Campbell and Dylan McCune.