by LONG BEACH, Calif. – The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team got off to a strong start and withstood a furious Long Beach State rally to squeeze out a critical 70-67 road win Saturday afternoon at the Walter Pyramid. The Rainbow Warriors improved to 19-8 overall and 10-5 in the Big West with their third win in their last four road contests.
UH led for the entirety of the game but needed to withstand a late LBSU surge to escape with the win. UH saw a 12-point lead vanish in the final five minutes, but JoVon McClanahan hit a driving layup with one minute left for what proved to be the game-winner. Not until Jadon Jones’ 35-foot three-pointer lipped out of the rim could UH secure the win and a regular-season sweep of the Beach (15-13, 9-7).
Kamaka Hepa led UH with 19 points, including a pair of free throws in the final seconds to close out the UH scoring. Bernardo da Silva was just one rebound shy of a double-double, posting 17 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with two minutes remaining. McClanahan had nine points and a team-high five assists.
AJ George had career-high 20 points for the Beach, who fell to the ‘Bows for the fifth time in the last six meetings.
LBSU entered the game as the league’s top-scoring and rebounding squad. The ‘Bows held the Beach 11 points under their Big West scoring average and beat them on the glass as well with a 32-28 advantage.
UH raced out to a 15-6 lead in the first five minutes of the game in a harbinger of things to come. The ‘Bows led by as many as 14 points in the first half, before ultimately taking a 39-29 lead into the locker room. Hepa and da Silva combined to score 25 of the team’s 39 first-half points.
The ‘Bows maintained its lead in the second half. LBSU cut it to 46-42 with 13:21 left, but the ‘Bows scored seven unanswered to go back up by double-digits. UH held a 63-51 lead on a pair of McClanahan free throws with five minutes remaining.
But LBSU made one final push, going on a 15-3 run, capped by a Jones’ three-pointer with 1:27 left that knotted the game, 66-66. UH responded on the next possession with McClanahan’s go-ahead bucket. Marcus Tsohonis had a chance to tie things up again with three seconds left, but he missed the second of two free throws which was rebounded by Hepa who was immediately fouled. Hepa sank both free throws and LBSU had one last gasp on Jones’ long three-point attempt which just rimmed out.
UH picked up its 19th win of the season and improved to 7-1this year coming off a loss.
