Wood grad Murray sharp for Silverswords

The Chaminade men’s basketball team has a reputation for being a giant killer in preseason tournaments and again played the role of David – with Bennie Murray’s help – in roughing up Texas 86-73 in the first round of the Maui Invitational.

The Wood High graduate finished with nine points, six rebounds and two assists. The rest of the tournament didn’t go so well for the Silverswords (3-3), who lost to Illinois 84-61 and North Carolina 112-70 in the third-place game. Murray had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists against the Illini, 15 points and three assists against the Tar Heels.

With Roman Robinson (Rodriguez) averaging 13.3 points, Webster split its first four games. The Gorloks lost to Sewanee 78-68 and cleaned up Rust 100-84 in the Cavillo Classic with Robinson getting nine points in the former, 17 in the latter and five boards in each. They then lost to Cincinnati Christian 82-78 and edged Asbury 93-91 in overtime in the Blue and Gold Classic with the 6-foot-3 senior forward getting 13 points in the former, 14 in the latter and seven boards in each.

With John Dickson (Fairfield) scoring 16 points and grabbing six rounds, Sacramento State outscored Utah 29-13 over the final 12 minutes to pull out a 74-71 win over the Utes for their first 3-0 start since 1999. The Hornets then fell to UC Davis 87-76 despite Dickson getting 18 points (along with six steals, six rebounds and three blocks) in becoming the 10th player in school history to go over the 1,000-point mark. He then had eight points and four boards in a 71-68 comeback win over Central Arkansas.

Robbie Herndon (Fairfield resident) came off the bench to score 21 points and pull down six rebounds in a team-high 46 minutes as San Francisco State fell to Dominican 115-110 in three overtimes. The Gators (2-2) also lost to Minnesota State 86-68 before Herndon started in wins over Seattle Pacific (60-55) and Colorado-Colorado Springs (69-66). In those latter three games, Herndon averaged 15.7 points.

Adams State got the season off to a 2-0 start with victories over Iowa Wesleyan (87-79) and Northern New Mexico (75-55) to win the Alamosa Tourism and Bankers Classic. James Lake (Fairfield) had 16 points and five rebounds in the first game, 14 points, five assists and five rebounds in the second.

Seeing much more playing time than a year ago, Mike McChristian (Wood) had 10 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals for Idaho (1-3) in a 66-63 loss to Montana. He later had five points in a 72-62 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay before going scoreless but contributing eight assists and four rebounds in a 73-58 loss to New Mexico.

After an 0-5 start, Menlo edged Linfield 87-85 in overtime with Malik Dunbar (Fairfield resident) getting two points and two rebounds before fouling out, while Patrick Greene (R0driguez) had four points off the bench. The Oaks (2-7) also defeated West Coast Baptist 72-69 and fell to Arizona Christian 73-64 and Johnson and Wales 67-62 with Dunbar getting a combined 21 points and 18 rebounds, and Greene a combined 11 points.

Ronnie Baker (Rodriguez) poured in a team-high 18 points in 31 minutes as a reserve as Alaska (4-3) lost 91-63 to Southwest Baptist in Western Washington’s Chuck Randall Thanksgiving Classic. Earlier in the tournament, the Nanooks (4-3) lost 65-60 to Concordia-St. Paul with Baker getting four points and three rebounds.

Pacific Union fell to 0-5 with a 72-53 loss to Biola despite getting 20 points, two steals and two assists from Marcus Carter (Solano). The Pioneers also fell to Hope International 45-27 with Carter scoring four.

Women’s basketball

Former Vanden teammates squared off when Erimma Amarikwa’s San Diego State squad rolled past Denisha Lundy and Cal State Dominguez Hills 66-30. Amarikwa, a sophomore post, had five points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Aztecs (3-2), while Lundy, a freshman guard, went scoreless but grabbed seven rebounds for the Toros (1-3). Khristina Hunter (Rodriguez) added 10 points, five rebounds and four steals for SDSU.

The Aztecs also defeated UC Irvine 63-53 as Amarikwa had 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, and Hunter had six points two assists and two rebounds, and rolled past Auburn 78-57 (Amarikwa and Hunter each scored four) before losing to Colorado 67-53. Amarikwa had 11 points and three boards against the Buffaloes,while Hunter went scoreless with five rebounds.

Lundy came up big in the Toros’ other three games, getting nine points three assists and two steals in an 86-69 loss to Cal State Los Angeles, nine points and two assists in a 70-43 loss to Point Loma Nazarene and 11 points and four assists in an 81-53 win over Fresno Pacific.

Ivy Jones (Solano) netted 13 points and dished out six assists to help Nebraska-Kearney (2-4), coached by former Falcons assistant and recent Solano Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Chaney, top San Francisco State 67-57. Jones later had a combined six points and six rebounds in losses to Academy of Art (72-62) and Concordia-St. Paul (71-51).

Shannon Rankin (Solano) scored one point and had four rebounds combined as San Francisco State (2-2) lost to Nebraska-Kearney before splitting with Sonoma State , winning 63-61 and losing 70-60.

Chico State opened the season 2-0 as Jazmine Miller (Vanden) had 10 points, four rebounds and two steals in a 66-63 win over Fresno Pacific before tying for the team high with 15 points and getting five rebounds in a 78-42 stomping of Cal State Stanislaus.

Tahvia Morrison (Vanden) had two points and two rebounds in helping UC Riverside (3-2) edge Utah State 94-90 in overtime. The former Viking then had three points in a 75-63 downing of Cal State Bakersfield and blocked a shot in a 72-68 loss to Princeton.

Presley Neufeld (Solano) averaged 12.3 points as Eastern Nazarene (3-1) defeated Wheelock 84-70 and Plymouth State 78-49, lost to Norwich 76-60 and edged Johnson and Wales 57-53.

Waldorf saw its record go to 4-4 with a win over Graceland (77-71) and losses to Grand View (74-54) and Bethany Lutheran (62-60). Goli Tavassoli (Vanden, Solano) had 16 points, 17 assists and eight rebounds in the three games.

Lourdes, coached by former Fairfield standout Zareth Gray, earned its first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference win by topping Lawrence Tech 76-63. The Gray Wolves also defeated Goshen 71-63, but lost 58-56 to Michigan-Dearborn and 75-71 to Marion.

Led by former Vacaville boys and Vacaville Christian girls coach Chris Minner, Our Lady of the Lakes improved to 5-0 for the first time in its four-year history with wins over Saint Gregory’s (87-79), Wayland Baptist (77-53) and Texas A&M-International (61-51).

Swimming

Alex Mendoza (Rodriguez) won the 1,650-yard freestyle (16 minutes, 19.60 seconds) and 500 free (4:43.80) to help the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s team silence Puget Sound 203-99. The former Mustang was also fifth in the 200 backstroke (2:02.48) and swam the third leg for the sixth-place 200 free relay team (1:35.65).

The the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s own invitational Ben Gabbard (Vacaville) was ninth in the 200 butterfly (2:19.31), 15th in the 100 fly (1:00.51) and 19th in the 200 individual medley (2:16.89).

Fresno State’s Britney Vogel (Armijo) and Tulane’s Natalie Garger (Vacaville) both took part in the Phill Hansel Invitational.

Vogel was 16th in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.70), 23rd in the 200 breast (2:28.60), 82nd in the 200 IM (2:14.72) and swam the second legs for the 200 medley relay (14th, 1:44.99) and 400 medley relay (20th, 3:51.18).

Turpen, meanwhile, was 37th in the 400 IM (4:40.27), 41st in the 200 fly (2:14.61) and 76th in the 200 IM (2:13.92).

Reach Paul Farmer at 425-4646, ext. 264, or pfarmer@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pfarmerdr.