Monday, November 19, 2001
[ UH BASKETBALL ]
UH rides second- At halftime last night, it was questionable whether the Hawaii basketball team could match the point output of the football team the night before.
half surge
After a first-half shooting slump,
the 'Bows beat Drake in the Tip-Off
Tournament final 74-63By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com
But UH never trailed after an 11-point run midway through the second half of its 74-63 victory over Drake in the championship game of the Nike Tip-Off Tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 3,587 saw the Rainbows (2-0) struggle through a terrible first half but rally to beat the Bulldogs (1-1). Hawaii shot a miserable 28 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes as Drake led 26-17. The Rainbows made two of their last 16 shots of the half and missed eight in a row at one stretch.
But tournament MVP Carl English and Mike McIntyre each scored a team-high 22 points and did much of the heavy lifting after halftime.
"We woke up. We brought up our defense," McIntyre said. "Their defense was letting us take the shots. Coach told us don't hesitate."
English scored 14 after the break, and McIntyre provided a spark off the bench with four 3-pointers, as he scored 20 in the second half.
"We knew if we didn't come out and play in the second half we'd come out losers," English said.
The uneven performance came two nights after UH looked in midseason form in winning its season opener 76-52 over Norfolk State.
But in the first half the Rainbows appeared to miss Predrag Savovic this time, the All-Western Athletic Conference guard who sat out again due to NCAA eligibility concerns, along with forwards Luc-Arthur Vebobe and Tony Akpan.
And the Bulldogs proved to be much more tenacious than the Spartans.
Even after Hawaii took a 49-38 lead with 8:32 left on English's fast-break basket, capping the decisive run, Drake fought back to 53-49 at 4:45 as Luke McDonald scored 10 of his game-high 26 points.
But English then converted a three-point play and McIntyre made a 3-point basket to put UH up 59-49 with 3:28 left.
Early on, it looked like UH wouldn't have to worry about a second-half comeback. The Rainbows jumped to an 11-3 lead as Mindaugas Burneika hit a trey and two free throws and English scored twice on cuts to the basket.
But McDonald hit three 3-pointers and Drake dominated the boards 20-10. UH, which got seven boards from Haim Shimonovich, made up some of that deficit, ending up with 34 rebounds to 29 for Drake.
English was the only UH player to hit more than one field goal in the first 20 minutes. He went into halftime with 8 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
McDonald scored nine before the break.
Hawaii surged back at the outset of the second half, as Phil Martin's six points helped the Rainbows tie it at 27 at the 16:12 mark. Martin finished with 15.
Burneika hit a free throw at 14:04 to put Hawaii up 33-32.
In the third-place game, Sam Houston State beat Norfolk State 90-71. Donald Cole's team-high 19 points and 13 rebounds helped the Bearkats (1-1) run away from the Spartans (0-2). Cole, a 6-foot-8 sophomore post, also blocked three shots.
English was joined on the All-Tournament team by Terrance Winston of Norfolk State, Cole, Drake's Andry Sola, McDonald and Burneika.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii