Tuesday, March 17, 1998
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Erin Galloway rises above the crowd for
one of his five dunks last night against Gonzaga.
UH has a familiar foe
By Cindy Luis
in its third-round NIT game:
Fresno State
Star-BulletinTime travel is possible.
The Rainbows reached back through three months of fruition and frustration to grab hold of a late-December memory. Last night's 78-70 victory over Gonzaga in the second-round of the NIT was reminiscent of Hawaii's semifinal victory over Nebraska in the Rainbow Classic.
Back then, the win over the Cornhuskers set up a showdown with No. 2 Kansas. Three months later, the win over Gonzaga has the Rainbows looking at leashing more Bulldogs when Fresno State comes in for Thursday's third-round contest.
Holy hula hoops! Hawaii's Dynamic Duo are 40 minutes away from Gotham City.
Defeating WAC rival Fresno State Thursday would send the Rainbows (21-8) to Madison Square Garden next week for the first time in the school's history. A loss gives the FSU Bulldogs (20-11) a chance at their first NIT title since 1983.
"The best part is they (Fresno State) have to come to us," said Hawaii guard Anthony Carter, after scoring a career-high 33 points in front of a sold-out Stan Sheriff Center crowd. "It's a step closer to New York, but we're not going to get excited yet. We still need to beat Fresno.
"We know our fans hate them and we'd like to give the fans something to cheer about. It would be great to beat them at home. We blew them out at their place (92-78, Feb. 28). Once we can take care of them, then we can think about going to New York."
Fresno State needed a controversial 3-pointer by Tremaine Fowlkes as time expired to eliminate Memphis, 83-80, last night.
It had been announced before tip-off at the Sheriff Center that the winner of the Hawaii-Gonzaga game would host the third-round game. The Rainbows, the frequent flyer champions of college basketball, played knowing that it was either home or bust.
And when it came to crunch time, when Gonzaga had erased an 11-point lead to tie it at 62-all with 5:39 left, it was Carter who busted the Bulldogs' upset hopes. He scored 11 of the Rainbows' final 16 points in securing the 17th win against four losses at the Sheriff Center this season.
"Carter is their go-to player, we knew that," said Gonzaga coach Dan Monson, whose team finished the year at 24-10. "For them to win, they've got to go to him down the stretch. He made some big-time plays."
"He's AC, what can I say?" said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "I'm just happy we're at home again, in front of the best fans in America. It's a reward by the NIT to give us another home game. I think they liked what they've seen here."
It will be the first time Hawaii has hosted three NIT games. In 1990, the Rainbows were at home for wins against Stanford and Long Beach State before traveling to WAC rival New Mexico and losing in the quarterfinals.
Hawaii expects to have Eric Ambrozich back for Thursday's game. The senior forward had his nose broken midway through the first half when he was elbowed in the face by Gonzaga's Bakari Hendrix with the Rainbows ahead, 21-19.
FRESNO, Calif. -- Fresno State center Avondre Jones and a recruit were arrested today, accused of pointing a gun at someone, poking the person with swords and stealing money and a camera. Fresno center arrested,
Associated Press
kicked off teamJones and recruit Kenny Brunner are being investigated by police for assault with a deadly weapon and grand theft.
Coach Jerry Tarkanian kicked Jones off the team and suspended Brunner.
Police Chief Ed Winchester said Jones is accused of pointing a gun at someone in an apartment, where there was drinking. Jones and Brunner then picked up two large swords and began poking at the victim, the chief said.
Officers were told that Jones grabbed the victim's backpack and removed $230 and a $500 camera. The relationship between the players and the victim was unclear.
"We didn't want to lose after Eric got hurt," said Carter. "We wanted to win it for him and for the fans."
"There was some motivation after Eric got hurt," said Rainbow forward Erin Galloway, who finished with 15 points, including five dunks. "It wasn't like we were trying to hurt (Hendrix) but we wanted to shut him down and let them know we weren't going to back off."
After the incident with Ambrozich (no foul was called), Hendrix was loudly booed each time he touched the ball. The Bulldogs' leading scorer finished with a team-high 26 points and 13 rebounds, but had just six rebounds after intermission and no good looks from outside the paint.
Gonzaga's 3-point shooting kept them in the game, hitting 9 of 23 compared to the Rainbows' 1 of 8. Quentin Hall, who hit three 3-pointers in the final four minutes of the second-round win at Wyoming last week, hit one trey during the 11-0 run that tied the game at 62-all.
Richie Frahm's third 3-pointer brought the Bulldogs to within 74-68 with a minute left but Carter dominated the final 60 seconds of the night, hitting two free throws and scoring on a full-court pass from Mike Robinson.
Hawaii's Alika Smith, shut out from 3-point range (0 for 4), finished with 14 points while Robinson added 13 rebounds and nine points.
NIT
Third round: Hawaii (21-8) vs. Fresno State (20-11)
1997-98 Rainbow Men's Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
