HONOLULU – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team clawed back from 17 points down to force overtime, but could not overcome Chaminade, as the Cougars dropped their third game in a row, 110-109 (OT), on Saturday night at McCabe Gym.

Chaminade's Oscar Pedroso hits two free throws with four seconds remaining in the extra period to put the game out of reach. Tanner Waldrip's last-second 3-pointer brought the Cougars within one as time expired, but it was too little, too late.

The Cougars drop to 3-3 overall while Chaminade improves to 1-5. CSUSM has not lost three consecutive on-court contests since December 2011.

Darnell Taylor led the Cougars with 30 points and Taran Brown added 27. Brown scored 24 of his points in the second half, including six 3-pointers. Tanner Waldrip dished out seven assists and tallied 17 points. Andrew Bournes also had 17 points.

Chaminade was paced by Kiran Shastri's 25 points. Shastri hit seven 3-pointers on the night. Rohndell Goodwin had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Silverswords.

Taylor's tough lay-up handed the Cougars a one-point lead 98-97 with 2:40 remaining in overtime, but Shastri answered with a 3-pointer to put the Silverswords in the lead for good.

Trailing by three, 105-102, with a half minute remaining, Brown attempted a step-back 3-pointer to tie the game, but his try was just short.

Chaminade proceeded to miss two free throws and the Cougars were able to cut the deficit to two after Declan Daly went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.

Down three with fewer than 20 seconds remaining, Waldrip attempted to drive around the left side of the lane for a lay-up, but his attempt was blocked by Pedroso. Shastri was fouled and his two free throws gave Chaminade a five-point advantage.

Akachi Okugo hit a 3-pointer to pull the Cougars within two with six seconds left, 108-106, and CSUSM called its final timeout to set up defense for the inbound play. However, Chaminade got the ball in easily to Pedroso.

He hit both of his attempts to make the Silversword lead four and put the game out of reach.
 
The hosts took control of the ball game with a 20-2 run midway through the first half and jumped out to a 24-7 advantage. CSUSM did well not to let the game get away and was able to pull within 48-37 at the break.

Brown's hot streak got the Cougars back in it, as the senior forward nailed five 3-pointers in a row and added a dunk in the second half.

Taylor's basket with 4:30 left gave the Cougars their first lead since the early moments of the game, 83-82, and the teams traded the lead for the rest of regulation. His tough double-clutch layup with less than 30 seconds left in the game made it 92-92 and the Cougars got a stop to force the extra period.

CSUSM opens its first season of California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play on Thursday and Saturday, Dec. 3 and 5 against Humboldt State and Sonoma State, respectively.