Div. II Chaminade upsets Oklahoma

Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii

Little Chaminade played the David role to perfection again.

Maybe it wasn’t as monumental as that all-timer over Virginia 19 years ago, but it still felt good.

Steven Bennett scored on a contested drive with 16 seconds left and Division II Chaminade held on to pull off another upset, beating Oklahoma 68-64 in the seventh-place game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday.

Chaminade (4-2) led by 10 midway through the second half, withstood Oklahoma’s late rally and held on down the stretch to set off a wild celebration at midcourt in front of the home-state fans.

Shane Hanson had 23 points, while Mamadou Diarra added 15 points, 11 rebounds and hit two free throws with 8 seconds left to seal another win for the upset specialists.

“For our university and our team, it’s something we’ll never forget,” Chaminade coach Matt Mahar said.

Oklahoma (3-3) shot poorly from the perimeter — 6 for 22 from 3-point range — and was outscored 38-26 inside against the smaller Silverswords to finish off a disappointing tournament with one of its ugliest losses in years.

Cade Davis led Oklahoma with 24 points, but shot an airball on a potential tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

“I thought we did some good things, [but] we’re just a team who can’t afford to have lulls in the game like he had this morning,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said.

Chaminade has a knack for pulling the occasional upset, including one of the most monumental in college basketball history, over top-ranked Virginia on neighboring Oahu in 1982.