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Sports Watch
OVER the years, the University of Hawaii had a number of dark moments in sports, times when it was too bleak for any rainbow to shine. UH basketball teams
remove dark curtainWho can forget the UH baseball team's Black Monday in Provo, Utah, on May 5, 1981? Truly, it was a date that will live in infamy.
The baseball 'Bows lost a doubleheader to Brigham Young, and it cost them a return trip to the NCAA Regional. To make matters worse, Peter Kendrick --the winning pitcher in both games --was from Hawaii.
The new millennium -- whether you want to count it starting from 2000 or 2001 -- hasn't been too kind for UH athletics.
A losing football season, president Kenneth Mortimer leaving and two coaches -- Les Murakami and June Jones -- critically injured and put on the disabled list.
So it was great news yesterday when UH's basketball program enjoyed its greatest single day in school history when both the Rainbow men and Wahine gained the finals in the WAC basketball tournament in Tulsa, Okla.
Riley Wallace's Rainbows stunned 25th-ranked Fresno State, 76-67, and Vince Goo's women topped Southern Methodist in overtime, 97-88.
What a great day for UH and the state of Hawaii. The only thing that could top March 9, 2001 as a red-letter date in Rainbow athletics is if they both win today and gain automatic berths in the NCAAs.
That any men's and women's teams can reach the conference finals in the same season is a remarkable achievement in itself.
Of the 29 conference tournaments this season, only Hawaii and Holy Cross so far have had both teams advancing to the conference finals.
Holy Cross' men and women won the Patriot League championships. Hawaii hopes to make it a double dip as well.
And, individually, what a great story it would be for Mr. and Mrs. Basketball of Hawaii, Nerijus and Dainora Puida. They were recruited as part of a package deal and what a deal it has been for the program.
Dainora scored 25 points to help the Wahine beat Southern Methodist. Nerijus scored only seven points in the victory over nemesis Fresno State.
POINTS, however, don't reflect his game. He just goes out and does whatever it takes to win. Besides three big steals, Puida did a good job of slowing down Fresno State star guard Tito Maddox, limiting him to only 11 points.
And, for a change, Wallace's Rainbows are thinking NCAA, not NIT. Believe it. They're only a victory away from "The Dance."
"If we dance, we dance. But if we don't, we don't," said Wallace. Either way, he's really proud of his bunch of overachievers.
Whatever happens today, Wallace says that UH's two victories yesterday marked a great day in Rainbow sports.
"Our guys fought hard. They were fighting for every loose ball. They weren't going to be denied," he said.
There was a shaky moment minutes into the second half when the Bulldogs ran off 10 straight points to tie the game at 34. But UH didn't lose its poise, according to Wallace. He noted that the Bulldogs started to hang their heads when the 'Bows didn't fade away.
This week's run is reminiscent of the performance by his 1993-94 team. It was only 15-14 going into the WAC tournament, but swept all three games to win the title, beating BYU on March 12, 1994, to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 22 years.
Come to think of it, that was a red-letter date, too.
"I brought it up at the team meeting," Wallace said. "I told them I felt it once and it's the greatest feeling in the world."
Bill Kwon has been writing about
sports for the Star-Bulletin since 1959.