CUH MBB Looks to Improve Record

At this point last season, the Chaminade men’s basketball team had a 3-4 record. This season the Swords have a similar record at 3-3.

Regardless of the small improvement made, CUH head coach Eric Bovaird knows that this team has more to offer. After dropping the Alaska Fairbanks 82-76 contest on Nov. 12, the UH Hilo game on Dec. 3 resulted in a three-point loss 87-84, and the game against the nationally seventh-ranked team Cal State San Bernardino which resulted in a crushing 78-106 loss, means that Bovaird believes that the team is better than the .500 record.

“I mean honestly I think we should be 5-1 right now,” said CUH head coach Eric Bovaird.“We didn’t play good enough to beat Cal State San Bernardino, but I thought we played good enough to beat Fairbanks and we just didn’t pull it out. And you know, there’s a couple of games that we wish we would’ve won and we had a good chance to win.”

Currently, the Swords stand with a 3-3 (1-1 PacWest) record. Bovaird said that even though they’re playing “just ok” right now, they are steadily improving. Bovaird said the team would need to improve on to get the result they wanted. 

“The biggest factor for us is turnovers,” Bovaird said. “Our goal is to play games with ten or less turnovers and if we do that we know we have a really good chance to win. I thought we turned the ball over way too much six games into the season so that’s something we’re really trying to improve on.”

On Dec. 3, the Swords fell to Hawaii Hilo on Dec. 3 in an 87-84 contest. The team had 15 total turnovers which allowed the Vulcans to pick up 19 points. 

“It’s also going to come down to being locked into the game plan for that day and playing as hard as you can,” Bovaird said. “Trying to get guys to bring it every single day as hard as they can possibly play is not easy. Some guys do it naturally but some guys need a strong push to do it. That’s really the main thing.”

Redshirt freshman Ross Reeves leads the team with 18.2 points per game. Following closely behind is redshirt junior Isaac Amaral-Artharee 17 points per game, and  Raazhel Watkins, a redshirt senior guard, comes up with 11 points per game.

Braden Olsen, a transfer student from Gannon University, suffered a right wrist (shooting hand) injury in an exhibition match against Louisville on Nov. 3. This was their second game of the season and their second game of their Division I exhibition road trip. Most notably that day, Olsen put on a show-stopping performance with a team-high of 27 points.

“We knew how good Ross Reeves would be for us this year,” Bovaird said. “We know what we’re going to get from Issac, and I think Raazhel is playing really well right now. Braden isn’t playing to his capability because of that injury, but I think he’ll get there.”

Olsen has continued playing, but he will find out with a doctor’s appointment on Dec. 16 if he can continue to play this season.

Their first game is on Saturday against Academy of Art who currently stands with a 5-3 (0-2 PacWest) record, however, they were ranked second in the conference in the preseason poll. They will play Holy Names with a 3-6 (0-2 PacWest) record on Dec. 12 and on Dec. 14 the Swords will finish off with Dominican Penguins who have a 4-4 (1-1 PacWest) record. 

“It’s going to be three highly competitive games,” Bovaird said. “Three years ago there used to be some guaranteed wins in the conference and we knew that we would win if we showed up. But that is not the case these past years. There’s been so much parity within the conference. Any team can beat any team on any given night.”