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Sports Watch
THE Rainbows didn't go quietly into the night. They went down kicking and screaming to the very end in a pulsating double-overtime 103-100 loss to highly favored Fresno State in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament last night. ’Bows lose, but
didn’t leave quietly"In all my years of coaching, that's one of the gutsiest performances I've ever had from any of my teams," said University of Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "I couldn't have been any prouder of my team. The guys just never said die."
Certainly, nobody had expected the Rainbows to do much in the WAC Tournament as they finished the season losing six of their final seven games. The thinking was, "Why bother?"
Instead, the gutty Rainbows lasted two games and two overtimes longer than expected.
It was supposed to have been one and out when they drew third-seeded Southern Methodist in Thursday's first round. The Mustangs were the ones that went home early as the Rainbows pulled off an 87-82 shocker.
THIS time, it was Fresno State at their place -- sold-out Selland Arena, with 9,800 rabid Bulldog fans screaming at every Rainbow, not just Marquette Alexander.
This WAC Tournament has been set up as an NCAA bid-earning coronation for Jerry Tarkanian, the Bulldogs' guru who looks like Yoda.
Jerry's Kids figured to hardly work up a sweat against the Rainbows. It was supposed to have been a tune-up, a shoot-around, really, in preparation for tonight's WAC championship game against Tulsa.
Fresno State wound up working up a sweat as five Bulldogs played 40 or more minutes. They were the ones who broke out in a cold sweat as the game went along.
Not only did the Rainbows not go away, they battled back from an 11-point deficit twice to take the lead.They led throughout most of the second half and never blinked, despite so many phantom officiating calls against them.
Like Predrag Savovic, who kept getting knocked to the floor and kept getting up, the Rainbows kept bouncing back.
Even when Alexander fouled out with more than three minutes in regulation on a questionable offensive charge, the Rainbows were still in it.
THAT wasn't the turning point of the game, though, according to Wallace.
It was the fifth foul on Mike McIntyre, who came up with an apparent steal at midcourt with the 'Bows ahead, 82-80, with 5.8 seconds left in regulation.
"Mike came up with a good clean steal,'' said Wallace. "I thought that was a game-winner they took away from us. If he gets that steal, the game's over, it's ours."
Having lost Alexander and McIntyre, it seemed the Rainbows had no prayer with the game going into overtime.
Yet it took a 3-pointer by Terrance Roberson for the Bulldogs to send the game into the second overtime, tied at 90-all.
Again, there was no quit in the Rainbows, who seemingly were headed into a third OT when walk-on Tre Stovall scored on a putback to tie it at 100-100 with 7.8 seconds left.
But Fresno State's Demetrius Porter ended the game - and maybe -- the season for the Rainbows with a trey that dropped through the net just as the buzzer sounded.
The Rainbows' 17-12 record may not be good enough for a bid to the NIT.
But they came, oh so close in beating Fresno State. And oh so close to having a better season.
In the end, they won the respect of Rainbow fans with their gutty performance last night.
You'd think even those from Fresno State.
Bill Kwon has been writing about
sports for the Star-Bulletin since 1959.