There figure to be no shortage of celebrations at Hawaii men’s basketball’s senior night this time around.
There figure to be no shortage of celebrations at Hawaii men’s basketball’s senior night this time around.
The Rainbow Warriors head home for their final two home games in full control of the Big West race after rallying Saturday night to beat UC Irvine 75-71 in Southern California.
UH (22-3, 11-1 Big West) took a two-game lead on the Anteaters (20-8, 9-3) with a shocking 9-0 game-ending run.
After trailing for most of the second half, Aaron Valdes put Hawaii ahead 72-71 with a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining, and Roderick Bobbitt and Mike Thomas salted the game away at the line.
Stefan Jankovic led the Rainbow Warriors with 25 points – giving him 59 on the road trip – and six rebounds.
Valdes returned from a one-game absence to add 13 points and six rebounds as Hawaii won its sixth straight.
Hawaii hosts UC Riverside on Thursday and Cal State Northridge on Saturday. Both are 7 p.m. tipoffs on OCSports. The ‘Bows finish up on the road at UC Davis and Long Beach State. The regular-season finale gives the UH a chance to avenge it only league loss to date.
‘Bows hammered
Hawaii starter Josh Pigg was touched for seven hits and walked five in 3 2/3 innings, and Patrick Martin provided little relief Sunday as New Mexico won in an 18-0 rout in Honolulu.
The Lobos (2-1) banged out 18 hits and two home runs in winning for the second time in the four-game series. The finale is 5:35 p.m. Monday in a game that can be heard on 850/790 AM.
Hilo High graduate Chayce Ka’aua missed his second consecutive game for UH after leaving Friday’s contest with what the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported at the time as a fractured finger.