Saint Louis' Jaymason Nunuha drives to the basket against Damien. Nunuha scored a game-high 25 points in the win over the Monarchs. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Wed, Dec 30, 2015 @ Saint Louis

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Damien

57

Saint Louis

67

Final	1	2	3	4
Damien (10-5, 13-10)	13	14	7	23	57
Saint Louis (7-6, 21-8)	16	18	14	19	67

J. Nunuha 25 pts  10/12 FTs

S. Maldonado 12 pts  2 3pm  0/0 FTs

KALAEPOHAKU—Jaymason Nunuha dropped 25 points to lead the fourth-ranked Crusaders past Damien, 67-57 in the final night of the 2015 Walter Wong Classic at McCabe Gym on Wednesday.

Nunuha scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and went 5 of 6 from the free throw line to seal the game for Saint Louis.

"It was straight-up defense. They were coming back and we had to work harder on defense. Some of the them I got lucky on, but I made it," said Nunuha, who also had two blocks and three steals.

"He's only a junior and the sky's the limit for him. I was happy how he played on defense. It was one of their better games offensively and defensively," said coach Saint Louis coach Allan Silva, on Nunuha.

The Crusaders got contributions from Noa Purcell who scored 13 points, nine rebounds and went 5 of 7 from the free throw line and Isaac Slade- Matautia chipped in 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

"Isaac is a hustler and he changes the complexion of the game. He's the spark for us," said Silva.

The Crusaders played without Tristian Nichols and Chris Sykes, who were on family trips according to coach Silva.

Saint Louis started to pull away to take a 32-17 lead in the second quarter before Damien closed out on a 10-2 run to trail, 34-27 going into halftime.

The Monarchs got within five before the Crusaders outscored the Monarchs, 11-2 in the third to take a 48-34 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Damien came back into the game, and got the deficit to under 10 with a little over 2 minutes remaining. However, Saint Louis pushed the lead back up to 10 and went 7 of 8 from the free throw line down the stretch to put the game away.

"This team is nothing but heart and hustle. It's a new group and we have get used to each other. They are competitive, which I love, and they won't give up," said Damien coach Alvin Stephenson.

Storm Maldonado scored a team-high 12 points and sank two 3's for the Monarchs. Shaun Apiki scored six of his eight points and Kolin Galdiano also added six of his nine points in the fourth to lead the rally.

"I give Saint Louis credit, their bigs run the floor like guards and caused us problems getting into the key and we're not used to that speed from their bigs. Our guard play has been solid but I want the boys to be more confident," said Stephenson.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular season starts up next week. Saint Louis opens up the Division 1 season at Maryknoll on Jan. 6. Damien opens up Division 2 play against Le Jardin on Jan. 5.

"I'm satisfied where we're at and how we're doing in the beginning of the year so we're excited," said Stephenson.