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Thursday, December 28, 2000
Hawaii takes Mindaugas Burneika has the body of a basketball tough guy.
Manhattan
Burneika 'the bull' shines
as UH advances to
second roundBy Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinLast night he showed 4,585 at the Stan Sheriff Center he owns the heart of one.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Burneika scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and took the opposing team's star player out of the game -- literally -- as Hawaii won its Rainbow Classic opener, beating Manhattan, 81-67.
Burneika's physical play goaded the Jaspers' 6-foot-7, 220-pound Durelle Brown into the first of two technical fouls. Brown's ejection hurt Manhattan's chances down the stretch.
"I describe him as a bull. He's built like one and he's got to play like one," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said of Burneika. "He's got to go up there as an in-between size and battle bigger and stronger people. We needed him to step up tonight and he did."
Burneika started in the post for the injured Troy Ostler, the Rainbows' leading scorer and rebounder who is nursing a sprained left ankle and may be back later this week.
"I cannot play like (Ostler) does. I'm just trying to do my best. We're not so big. We knew they had one guy to stop," Burneika said. "It was a tough game, but we have victory."
TODAY
Iowa vs. Detroit-Mercy, 5 p.m.
TOMORROW
YESTERDAY
The Rainbows improved to 5-4 after winning their third consecutive game. Manhattan dropped to 3-5.
It was truly a team victory, as four Rainbows, led by Mike McIntyre with 19, scored in double figures. Predrag Savovic scored 18 and freshman Phil Martin added 10 points and 12 rebounds.
"The team's come of age. There's no question," Wallace said. "The young guys are stepping up. When we bring somebody else in to replace somebody, they pick it up."
Tonight, two Top 25 teams play their first-round games. No. 23 Iowa (9-1) plays Detroit-Mercy at 5 p.m., and No. 6 Tennessee (10-1) meets George Washington (5-4) at 7:30 p.m.
In yesterday's first game, Saint Louis beat Texas A&M, 72-60, setting up a semifinal meeting tomorrow between the Billikens and Rainbows.
"They've been playing really good basketball of late, and they've got some talent," Saint Louis coach Lorenzo Romar said of Hawaii. "They're a tough team to guard."
Wallace also expressed respect for the Billikens.
"I like Saint Louis. They look very disciplined. They move the ball well, and are well-coached," he said. "They're a bigger team than this one tonight, but every guy knows what he's got to do."
The Rainbows must find a way to deal with Maurice Jeffers, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard who nailed 9-of-10 from the field in scoring 24 points last night.
UH neutralized Manhattan's best player by getting into his head.With Hawaii leading, 41-35, and 14:36 left, Brown and Burneika were called for a double-technical after some physical defense from Burneika and a wrestle for a loose ball resulted in Brown throwing it at Burneika.
Just 28 seconds later, Brown scored under the basket, but got another technical for trash-talking, and was ejected with 12 points and six rebounds.
"He's a great kid," Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "He just got a little frustrated."
As for the soft-spoken Burneika, at least one teammate wasn't surprised by his combativeness.
"Mindaugas doesn't back down for nobody," McIntyre said. "That's a bonus for us to have somebody that isn't scared of anyone and is willing to give it back. That was a big boost. It got into the guy's head where he got another technical trying to get even."
Brown's ejection sparked the Jaspers emotionally, as Bruce Seals scored eight points to spark a 19-11 run. The Jaspers led, 56-55, with 8:14 left.
"That was one of the proudest moments in my two years as Manhattan coach." Gonzalez said. "But we used so much to get up the hill. They kind of wore us down at the end."
UH took final control with a 16-3 rally keyed by two McIntyre baskets and Burneika's 3-pointer.
McIntyre provided season-highs in points and 3-pointers (four) coming off the bench.
Burneika's points and rebounds and Martin's rebounds are career highs for the first-year Rainbows.
"They filled the void," Wallace said.
Hawaii 81, Manhattan 67
Jaspers (2-5, 0-1 OHRC)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Jackette 3 8 0 0 2 5 7 37 Johnson, M. 1 4 0 0 0 0 2 22 Green 3 4 4 4 4 6 11 32 Johnson, J. 6 11 0 0 3 0 12 26 Brown 6 10 0 0 6 1 12 25 Seals 4 12 1 1 1 1 11 19 Clark 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 Holmes 1 2 2 2 2 0 4 22 Haynes 3 6 0 0 3 0 6 13 Team 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Totals 28 58 4 13 24 13 67 200 Rainbows (5-4, 1-0 OHRC)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Savovic 6 13 4 7 5 4 18 28 Martin 1 2 8 8 12 0 10 38 Hilton 1 3 2 2 3 4 4 25 Burneika 5 10 7 10 7 1 18 32 Puida 2 7 5 5 2 3 9 34 McIntyre 7 12 1 2 0 2 19 26 Takaki 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ English 1 2 0 0 1 2 3 8 Holliday 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ O’Connor 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 8 Fields 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Team 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Totals 23 50 27 34 33 16 81 200 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 score-Hawaii 35, Manhattan 31
3-point goals-Manhattan 4-13 (Seals 2-6, Jackette 1-4, Green 1-1, Johnson 0-2), Hawaii 8-20 (McIntyre 4-8, Savovic 2-5, Burneika 1-3, English 1-2, Hilton 0-1, Puida 0-1). Personal fouls-Manhattan 24, Hawaii 11. Fouled out-none. Steals-Manhattan 4 (Johnson 2, Green, Seals), Hawaii 5 (Martin 3, Hilton, Burneika). Blocked shots-Manhattan 1 (Green), Hawaii 2 (Burneika 2). Turnovers-Manhattan 16 (Green 4, Jackette 3, Brown 3, J. Johnson 2, Holmes 2, M. Johnson, Seals), Hawaii 15 (Savovic 4, Hilton 4, Puida 3, Martin 2, Takaki, English). Technicals-Brown, (2), Burneika. Officials-Rucker, Carey, Reischling. A--7,350 (tickets distributed), 4,585 (turnstile).
Saint Louis 72, Texas A&M 60
Aggies (3-6, 0-1 OHRC)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Anderson 3 7 2 2 5 0 8 25 Jack 1 2 0 3 4 1 2 23 Leatherman 0 4 0 0 3 0 0 20 Brown 8 15 1 2 4 1 19 32 King, B. 3 16 2 2 3 4 8 32 Bean 2 2 0 2 4 1 4 22 King, J. 2 6 1 1 3 1 5 12 Gilchrist 3 7 7 10 4 1 14 27 Scott 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Butterfras 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Team 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Totals 22 59 13 22 34 9 60 200
Billikens (7-4, 1-0 OHRC)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Perry 2 5 2 3 2 5 7 24 Tatum 4 8 1 4 3 2 9 26 Jeffers 9 10 5 6 8 2 24 31 Sloan 3 7 0 1 1 0 6 15 Heinrich 1 2 0 0 4 0 2 10 McClain 2 5 0 2 2 3 4 12 Fisher 0 1 3 4 1 3 3 21 Diener 1 4 4 5 3 0 6 17 Baniak 2 3 0 0 0 0 5 16 Braun 3 5 0 0 3 0 6 28 Team 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Totals 27 50 15 25 30 15 72 200 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 score-Saint Louis 33, Texas A&M 28
3-point goals-Texas A&M 3-14 (Brown 2-2, Gilchrist 1-3, B. King 0-5, Leatherman 0-4), Saint Louis 3-8 (Baniak 1-1, Perry 1-1, Jeffers 1-1, Diener 0-3, Fisher 0-1, Sloan 0-1). Personal fouls-Texas A&M 19, Saint Louis 21. Fouled out-none. Steals-Texas A&M 2 (B. King, J. King), Saint Louis 5 (McClain 2, Perry Tatum, Diener). Blocked shots-Texas A&M 0, Saint Louis 4 (Jeffers 3, Perry). Turnovers-Texas A&M 14 (Gilchrist 3, Anderson 2, Brown 2, King 2, Bean 2, Jack, Leatherman, Butterfras). Saint Louis 14 (Heinrich 3, Fisher 3, Perry 2, Tatum 2, Jeffers 2, McClain, Braun). Technicals-none. Officials-Burr, Hunt, White.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
