Michigan State
tops field at
Pearl Harbor

By Jerry Campany
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Basketball tournament season is far from over in Hawaii.

Three of Hawaii's four Division II basketball teams will host tournaments next week, headlined by the Pearl Harbor Classic in Laie Dec. 21-23.

Brigham Young-Hawaii will host Michigan State, Alabama, Weber State, Pepperdine, Oregon State, Texas Tech.

Big Ten Conference champion Michigan State heads the card, currently ranked No. 14 despite suffering close losses to Temple, Duke and Connecticut.

The Spartans (6-3) are led by Big Ten Player of the Year and preseason All-American point guard Mateen Cleaves and rebounder Antonio Smith.

Tom Izzo and the Spartans open up against Jelani Gardner and Pepperdine (5-3).

Tulsa (9-1) is led by forward Michael Ruffin and is ranked No. 34 in the Sagarin computer basketball rankings.

In addition to a full plate of basketball, the teams will be treated to a banquet at the Polynesian Culture Center on Saturday night and will take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Arizona memorial on Sunday.

Wednesday's championship game will be broadcast nationwide on the Military Channel.

HPU Christmas Tournament

After being swept in its own NCAA Division I tournament, Hawaii Pacific will step back into the past to assert its dominance over NAIA foes.

The Sea Warriors celebrated their recent move from the NAIA to NCAA Division II with losses to Division I foes Iona, Baylor, and Hofstra. After destroying UH-Hilo and Chaminade in the Pac West Hawaii tournament, they take a further step down to familiar stomping grounds against NAIA powers Azuza Pacific, Fresno Pacific, and NCAA III Carleton College at the Neal Blaisdell Center Dec. 21-22.

The Sea Warriors open up against Fresno Pacific and close with Azuza Pacific.

Fresno Pacific has played HPU to a 2-2 standstill in the all-time series, handing HPU an 87-85 overtime loss in '95.

Hawaii Pacific has dominated Azuza through the years, taking the series, 3-1, including two wins during the '94-'95 season.

Sea Warriors point guard Shannon Lee will look to improve upon his Pac West Pacific division leading 27 steals and 46 assists while Robert Parker and Willie Flowers light up their NAIA competition.

Flowers returns to the Sea Warriors after suffering a badly bruised tailbone and Parker is averaging 20.1 PPG after enjoying a 31-point effort against Chaminade.

Coconut Coast Classic

Jeff Law hopes to turn things around for his talented -- but struggling -- UH-Hilo squad Dec. 20-21 in their tournament in Hilo.

The Vulcans will entertain Midwestern State Dec. 20 before taking on Midamerican Nazerene Dec. 21.

Maceo Thomas leads the balanced Vulcan scoring attack with 12.7 PPG and Merriel Jenkins is Hawaii's leading rebounder with 7.7 RPG.

Chaminade will play Lee University on at home on Thursday and Saturday and host Wichita State on Monday.