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Monday, December 25, 2000

Ostler hurt, may
miss Rainbow Classic

UH hopes Puida can
pick up the slack with
his hot shooting

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By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin

Bouncing back appears to be a characteristic of the University of Hawaii men's basketball team this season.

UH hopes Troy Ostler's left ankle is resilient, too, and that its most valuable player can compete in at least some of this week's Rainbow Classic.

A team that appeared in near-total disarray only two nights earlier played its best game by far Saturday, as Hawaii romped over Alabama-Birmingham, 100-86, in the last game of the Nike Festival.

Georgia State had already won the tournament with a 3-0 record, but the Rainbows (4-4) recaptured some of their fickle fans -- and a whole lot of self-confidence after Thursday's self-destruct against the Panthers -- with two wins.

Forward Nerijus Puida, Mr. Intangible, became Mr. Unstoppable on Saturday. He reached career highs in points (26) and rebounds (15).

"Nerijus always knows where he's supposed to be," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "He doesn't have bad habits. He spends his free time at home with his wife (UH women's player Dainora). It's like coaching a player from BYU."

Nearly lost in Puida's outburst was the continued improvement of freshmen Jeep Hilton at point guard (six assists, one turnover) and Phil Martin in the post (19 points).

"We're starting to crystallize," said UH guard Predrag Savovic, a former UAB player who blazed for 17 points Saturday. "People are starting to realize what their tasks are. It's like a puzzle and the pieces are coming together."

But a huge chunk will be missing for a while.

Just when things seemed to be going perfect, Ostler, the Rainbows' leader, fell to the court with 3:54 left.

"Takaki Time" became furrowed brow time, as the 3,145 at the Stan Sheriff Center focused more on Ostler's condition than whether the Rainbows would hit the century mark for the first time since last season.

The burning question changed from whether Lane O'Connor got his 4.0, meaning Wallace will have to live up to a promise to receive a burr haircut (the answer is yes) to how long Ostler will be on crutches.

The answer to that is a range of a day to up to two weeks. That's the normal healing time for a Class-2 sprain, which is what trainer Jayson Goo and physician Andrew Nichols diagnosed after treating Ostler's left ankle.

Although UH showed on Saturday it could win without scoring from Ostler, part of the reason the Rainbows were able to hit 7-of-17 from behind the 3-point line was UAB's concentrated efforts on stopping Ostler.

Ostler scored a career-high 34 points in a victory over Cal State Northridge on Friday, but only nine Saturday. He was scoreless until he made two free throws with 10:57 left, giving Hawaii a 70-51 lead.

But the 6-foot-10 post player remains the most irreplaceable Rainbow, especially with 6-9 Bosko Radovic out for the season with a broken leg, and 6-10 Haim Shimonovic's NCAA eligibility still in question.

Ostler, last week's WAC Player of the Week, is Hawaii's leading scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker.

"The good news is that he's had one of those on the same ankle before, meaning it should heal faster," Wallace said.

There's probably no need to rush Ostler back for UH's Rainbow Classic opener against Manhattan on Wednesday.

But St. Louis, Texas A&M, Tennessee and/or Iowa loom later in the week. Beating them with Ostler is enough of a challenge.

Wallace must also weigh the importance of these games relative to the WAC season, which begins Jan. 4 at TCU.

"This is the kind of team you want," Wallace said Saturday. "You want someone different to be able to step up every night."

With Ostler out, the Rainbows don't only want that, but need it.

TIP-INS: Saturday's win was UH's first 100-point output in a non-overtime game since its 102-83 victory over Long Island on Dec. 13, 1997. Hawaii lost to Fresno State, 103-100, in double-overtime in the WAC Tournament last March 10. ... Georgia State's Shernard Long was voted the Nike Festival MVP. He's joined on the All-Tournament team by Brian Heinle (Cal State Northridge), Troy Ostler (Hawaii), Nerijus Puida (Hawaii), David Walker (Alabama-Birmingham) and David Cooper (Georgia State). ... Former Hawaii forward Erin Galloway, husband of women's player Kylie Galloway, is home on vacation from pro ball in Portugal. Galloway spent a season at Georgia State before playing at UH. ... The Rainbows (4-4) have won consecutive games for the first time this season. ... UH freshman guard Kimo Keiter-Charles missed Saturday's game because he was involved in an auto accident. No one was injured, he said. ... Former UH forward Mike Robinson has signed to play for the Quad-City Thunder of the CBA. "I had a good summer in Los Angeles playing against NBA players and this is another step for me in the right direction," said Robinson, who played in Spain last year.

Hawaii 100, UAB 86

Blazers (6-4, 1-2 Nike Festival)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Woods	2	4	0	2	13	1	1	4
Bass	3	7	0	0	33	1	7	15
Reese	0	0	0	0	0+	0	0	0
Walker	8	11	4	7	36	13	2	20
Armstrong	1	1	4	4	5	0	0	7
Johnson	2	5	1	2	23	0	2	5
Arnold	2	12	1	2	14	1	1	6
Batchelor	5	15	3	4	31	3	1	16
Frericks	0	2	0	0	10	2	0	0
Nikolic	1	5	0	0	14	4	0	2
Campbell	4	7	3	5	21	6	0	11
Team	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Totals	28	69	25	36	200	33	14	86

Rainbows (4-4, 2-1 Nike Festival)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Savovic	5	9	2	6	31	5	4	17
Martin	5	5	9	10	21	4	1	19
McIntyre	3	5	1	1	17	0	1	9
Hilton	2	6	1	2	25	1	6	5
Takaki	0	0	0	0	0+	0	0	0
Terrell	0	0	4	6	4	0	1	4
Burneika	2	2	0	1	16	5	1	4
Puida	8	11	7	7	34	15	5	26
English	0	1	1	2	10	2	0	1
Ostler	2	10	5	8	32	5	2	9
Holliday	0	0	0	0	0+	0	0	0
O’Connor	1	2	2	2	7	0	0	4
Fields	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	2
Team	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Totals	29	52	35	44	200	39	21	100

Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime-Hawaii 48, Alabama-Birmingham 38.
3-point goals--UAB 5-17 (Batchelor 3-9, Armstrong 1-1, Arnold 1-4, Johnson 0-1, Nikolic 0-2); UH 7-17 (Puida 3-4, McIntyre 2-4, Savovic 2-6, Hilton 0-3). Personal fouls--UAB 31, UH 24. Fouled out--None. Technical fouls-None. Steals--UAB 8 (Johnson 2, Walker, Armstrong, Arnold, Batchelor, Nikolic, Campbell), UH 8 (Hilton 2, Terrell 2, Savovic, Martin, McIntyre, Puida). Blocked shots--UAB 2 (Batchelor, Campbell), UH 4 (Ostler 4). Turnovers--UAB 11 (Woods 3, Walker 3, Arnold 2, Bass, Johnson, Nikolic), UH 20 (Savovic 5, Ostler 4, Burneika 3, McIntyre 2, English 2, Hilton, Terrell, Puida, O'Connor). Officials--Jackson, Maracich, Yamashita. A-5,794 (tickets distributed), 3,145 (turnstile).

Georgia State 97, Cal State Northridge 63

NORTHRIDGE (6-6): Carr 0-7 4-4 4, Welch 1-1 2-2 4, Burrell 5-9 1-2 14, Heinle 10-21 5-8 27, Parris 5-9 4-9 14, Ogden 0-0 0-0 0, Calloway 0-0 0-0 0, McCain 2-5 4-4 9, Holmes 3-3 2-2 10, Busch 1-1 2-2 4, Read 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-57 24-33 88.

GEORGIA STATE (10-1): Terrell 5-7 0-1 12, Cooper 5-10 10-12 21, Morris 3-12 10-10 17, Long 9-20 7-8 29, Davis 2-3 0-0 4, Campbell 1-3 1-1 3, McIntosh 0-2 0-0 0, Gunsby 3-4 2-2 8, Gilchrist 0-0 0-0 0, Wootson 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 29-63 30-34 97.

Halftime -Georgia State 47, Cal State Northridge 44. 3-point goals--CSN 8-19 (Burrell 3-6, Holmes 2-2, Heinle 2-5, McCain 1-3, Parris 0-1, Carr 0-2), GSU 9-28 (Long 4-10, Terrell 2-4, Wootson 1-2, Cooper 1-5, Morris 1-5, McIntosh 0-1, Davis 0-1). Fouled out--Burrell, Terrell, Davis. Rebounds--CSN 33 (Heinle 10), GSU 30 (Long 7). Assists--CSN 20 (Heinle 7), GSU 14 (Morris, Long 5). Total fouls--CSN 29, GSU 25.

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