RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Jack Purchase and Sheriff Drammeh scored 15 points apiece, Brocke Stepteau had 14 and Hawaii defeated UC Riverside 72-63 on Thursday night after losing most of a 20-point halftime lead.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Jack Purchase and Sheriff Drammeh scored 15 points apiece, Brocke Stepteau had 14 and Hawaii defeated UC Riverside 72-63 on Thursday night after losing most of a 20-point halftime lead.
Hawaii scored 19-straight points and closed the first half on a 25-1 run to lead 38-18. The Rainbow Warriors made 7 of 11 3-pointers and 15 of 27 shots overall in the first half while Riverside was 7 of 26 and 2 of 9.
Then the Highlanders got hot, making 18 of 24 shots in the second half. They had runs of 10-0, 10-1 and 8-0 to make it 55-51 with 6:12 remaining.
But after Dikymbe Martin’s 3-pointer at 1:18 made it 64-61 with 1:18 left, Stepteau found Gibson Johnson alone inside. Then the Warriors made six straight free throws in the final 22.1 seconds, four by Stepteau, to seal it.
With the win UH stayed in the thick of the Big West race, moved into a four-way tie for fourth in the conference standings.
Hawai’i (10-11, 3-4 Big West) is on the mainland for just the second time this season and lost to Riverside 70-64 eight days earlier.
Purchase added a career-high nine rebounds and Stepteau had seven assists.
Martin had 21 points and Chance Murray 15 for the Highlanders (6-13, 4-4).
Women
UC Riverside 63, Hawaii 45
The Rainbow Wahine (8-12, 4-4 Big West) shot just 24.2 percent from the field, including 1 of 13 from 3-point range, falling to 1-9 on the road.
Senior Briana Harris finished with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and junior Sarah Toeaina added 15 points, but the rest of team shot 4 for 36 from with 13 points.
UC Riverside (11-10, 5-3 Big West) held a 53-39 rebounding advantage.