Nov. 22, 2000

Box Score

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) - Kaspars Kambala had 29 points and 15 rebounds as UNLV beat Chaminade 90-78 Wednesday in the seventh-place game of the Maui Invitational, the Silverswords' 24th consecutive loss in their tournament.

Kambala, a 6-foot-9 senior center, scored 80 points in the three games in the tournament, including a career-high 37 in the 86-85 overtime loss to Louisville in the consolation round.

UNLV (2-2) seemed to have the game in control midway through the second half as Kambala started dominating inside against Chaminade's matchup zone, especially when 6-6 Robert Watson, a transfer from Western Michigan, picked up his fourth foul.

Kambala scored 11 points in a 20-7 run - including seven of the last 11 inside - that gave the Runnin' Rebels a 68-54 lead with 8:33 to play.

Chaminade (0-3) took advantage of some poor free throw shooting by UNLV to get back within 84-78 with 1:09 left on a reverse layup by Jaborri Thomas. But the Runnin' Rebels, who had missed seven of their last 10 free throws, went 6-for-6 from the line over the final 51 seconds to seal the win.

Kambala was 24-for-41 from the field and 32-for-34 from the foul line and had 25 rebounds in the three games.

Trevor Diggs and Jermaine Lewis each added 16 points for UNLV, while Lafonte Johnson had 14.

C.J. Cowgill had 19 points for Chaminade, while David Toya had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Watson added 11 points and nine rebounds despite the foul trouble.

Chaminade, a Division II school in Honolulu, has a 3-46 record in the 17 years of the Maui Invitational. The Silverswords' last victory was a 71-63 double-overtime win over Stanford in the 1992 seventh-place game.