LAHAINA, Maui — Chaminade failed to win a game in the EA Sports Maui Invitational for the third year in a row but the reigning Pacific West Conference champion has plenty to be thankful for heading into conference play.

The Silverswords played their best all-around game of the tournament yesterday against Oklahoma, a valiant effort that saw the team come back constantly from double-digit deficits to either tie or pull within a point of the Sooners.

In the end, the power and prowess of center Longar Longar, a native of Waw, Sudan, proved too much as the Sooners rode their big men to a 72-57 victory in the seventh-place game.

Longar finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds, nine of them on the offensive end, and held Silversword center Marko Kolaric to six points on 2-of-3 shooting.

"I think they did a fantastic job. I thought we could win the game," Chaminade coach Matt Mahar said. "Day three of this tournament is always tough for us, we're banged up but we came at them hard. I was really, really impressed with our guys. We had some mental breakdowns but we clawed back."

Chaminade consistently drove the lanes then kicked the ball out to perimeter players for jump shots. Mahar praised the philosophy after the game, saying the team relies on the outside shot.

Chaminade was 8 of 26 from behind the 3-point line, although guard Hayden Heiber hit 4 of 5 and finished with 14 points.

Chaminade trailed 61-55 with 4:48 left following a layup by forward Stewart Kussler, but that was the Silverswords' last field goal of the game. Kussler finished with 23 points a day after scoring 21 against DePaul.

Austin Johnson, who scored all 13 of his points in the second half, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Sooners, and Chaminade never got within eight again.

Sooner coach Jeff Capel, who was visibly frustrated with the play of his team at times, said he was proud of the fact his team fought through fatigue to repel each Chaminade charge.

"I don't care what division they're in. They're well coached, they have talent, and they play hard," said Capel.

Capel, like UCLA coach Ben Howland and DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright, heaped praise on Silversword guard Zack Whiting, who finished with four points and nine assists, his first game this tournament where he didn't notch a double-double.

"He's got a great feel for the game and he knows how to change speeds," said Capel. "I think he's a great player."

The Sooners came out rusty early, missing shots and scoring by using their size advantage inside.

Sophomore forward Taylor Griffin, the 2004 Oklahoma high school player of the year, muscled down low and scored eight unanswered points and had 11 total points by the 15:26 mark in the first half.

The Sooners, despite the presence of Kolaric, a 6-11 center, dominated the paint.

Longar scored 14 points in the first half to go along with eight rebounds as he and Griffin accounted for 25 of the Sooners' 37 points in the first half.

The Silverswords clamped down on Griffin in the second half, holding the sophomore without a point.

The loss dropped Chaminade to 4-63 in Invitational play with its last victory coming over Villanova in 2003.

Oklahoma lost to No. 12 Memphis and Purdue in its first two games, while Chaminade was beaten by No. 5 UCLA and DePaul.

This was Oklahoma's third appearance in the tournament. The Sooners finished second in 1988 and fifth in 1992.

THIRD PLACE

No. 12 Memphis 80, No. 20 Kentucky 63: Freshman Willie Kemp scored 10 of his 12 points in the opening four minutes of the second half, helping the Tigers (3-1) defeat the Wildcats (3-2) for third place.

Robert Dozier scored 15 points, and Chris Douglas-Roberts and Jeremy Hunt each added 13 for Memphis, which matched its best finish (1992) in four appearances on Maui.

Kentucky finished third in 1997 and 2002. This was the first-ever meeting between the schools.

FIFTH PLACE

Purdue 81, DePaul 73: Carl Landry scored 22 points and Tarrance Crump had 20 to lead the Boilermakers (4-1) over the Blue Demons (2-4) for fifth place.

Purdue shot 69 percent in taking a 45-26 halftime lead. The Boilermakers hit five straight 3s in a 19-4 run that gave them a 38-17 lead with 6:15 left, and they led by as much as 45-21.

Wilson Chandler had 16 points for the Blue Demons, who made 11 straight shots from the field and drew to 69-63 with 5:06 left on a 3-pointer by Chandler.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.