Sunday, November 25, 2001
[ UH BASKETBALL ]
HILO >> Halemaumau crater has nothing on the Hawaii men's basketball team. Rainbows collapse under
Rams’ heat Hawaii's lack of
depth catches up with it
on the Big IslandBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comNo need to drive to Volcanoes National Park. The biggest collapse on the Big Island last night could be found in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The Rainbows saw their undefeated season melt under the defensive heat by Colorado State. Madame Pele would be proud.
Hawaii (3-1) was held to 17 second-half points in falling to the former conference rival 61-59 in the semifinals of the 10th Big Island Invitational.
It will be brunch with the 'Bows today as they take on Wisconsin (1-2) for third place at 2 p.m. Playing in the 4:30 p.m. title game will be Colorado State (4-0) and Weber State (3-1).
In consolation games, Louisiana State escaped with a 64-62 win over Hawaii-Hilo, handing the host Vulcans their 23rd consecutive loss in this event, and Mercer defeated South Carolina State 72-61.
In the 11:30 a.m. fifth-place game, LSU will face Mercer. The Vulcans and Bulldogs will meet for seventh place at 9 a.m.
Colorado State 61, Hawaii 59: In their 43rd meeting -- and the first since 1997, when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference -- the Rams turned up the defensive pressure after halftime in handing the Rainbows their first loss of the season.Hawaii led 42-28 at intermission and 49-34 with 15:17 left. The Rainbows did not score for almost 10 minutes while the Rams went on an 18-0 run to go up 52-49.
"I told them (at halftime) that we had a chance to come back, but it would have to be with defense," said CSU coach Dale Layer, his team trailing in the series 22-21. "That was the biggest deficit we had faced all season and I didn't know if we could come back.
"We got the momentum because of defense."
And a lack of rebounding on the part of the Rainbows. Hawaii had only six rebounds to CSU's 23 in the second half, and was outrebounded 36-18 for the game.
"They executed, we didn't," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "In the second half, we got no open looks, we weren't making the cuts.
"We've been playing six guys and it caught up with us."
Hawaii caught CSU at 52 on Carl English's 3-pointer with 5:53 left. The Rainbows used free throws to stay even. Mindaugas Burneika's layup with 72 seconds left gave Hawaii its first lead in more than six minutes at 59-58.
Hawaii's defense forced a travel call on the Rams, but the Rainbows couldn't capitalize. UH worked for an open shot, but with five seconds on the shotclock, English was forced to take a wild 3-point attempt from the top of the key. It bounced off the backboard.
The Rams did what the Rainbows couldn't. CSU penetrated, got the ball into Brian Greene, who got the basket, the foul (Burneika's fifth) and the game-winning free throw. It was the only free throw Greene made in three trips to the line, but it was the only one that mattered.
"That was the game," said Burneika, who finished with 12 points. "We lost it, they didn't win it. We couldn't do anything in the second half.
"It was hard to watch the end from the bench."
It was truly close-your-eyes time. With 11 seconds left, Mark Campbell drove into the lane then dished to Paul Jesinskis on the baseline. Jesinskis, who had hit all four of his shots in the first half, was short on his 13-footer; it bounced off at the buzzer.
"We owe it to ourselves not to be in that position, where it comes down to the last shot," said Jesinskis. "We've got such a good offense, this should not have happened.
"Coach (associate Bob) Nash had it scouted. We knew what they were going to do. We did it the first half. Then we came out flat."
Hawaii was 5 of 19 from the floor after halftime while CSU was 11 of 22, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
"Our offense was out of sync," said Mike McIntyre. "We were taking a lot of quick shots and maybe we hit the wall.
"At the end of the game, it shouldn't come down to one shot to have to win it."
McIntyre took just one shot in the last 20 minutes, and missed. He finished with 10 points, all in the first half. Jesinskis and Haim Shimonovich also had 10. English led Hawaii for the third time in four games with 13.
Andy Burley had 17 points for the Rams, 15 in the second half. Freddy Robinson, with an excellent defensive effort on McIntyre, added 12 and Matt Brown 10.
Weber State 73, Wisconsin 69: The Wildcats overcame a 32-28 halftime deficit with 8 3-pointers to topple the Badgers.
Jermaine Boyette scored 18 points, all in the last 14 minutes, to lead the comeback. Boyette iced the game from the line, hitting 5 of 7 free throws over the final 38 seconds.
Stevie Morrison added 14 for Weber State,while John Hamilton had 12 and Nic Sparrow 11.
Devin Harris scored 19 to pace Wisconsin. Freddie Owens added 15 and Mike Wilkinson 12.
LSU 64, Hawaii-Hilo 62: The Tigers did not lead in the second half until the final nine seconds, a fact that had the Vulcans hurting more than a 20-point blowout.
"I guess we were thinking we were going to win this one," said Vulcan forward Kyle Bartholomew. "We made a few crucial mistakes at the end and they hurt us.
"Losses hurt but especially one this close. It would have been really exciting to win."
Hawaii-Hilo has played very good hosts in this event almost since its inception. The Vulcans are now 2-27, with their only wins coming in the 1993 tourney when they defeated both Creighton and Chaminade.
But this would have been a quality win against a program with a storied history. Second-year coach Jeff Law was not happy after the loss.
"It's a hard one to take," said Law. "We were rushing our shots at the end, the shot selection wasn't good.
"For a guard-oriented team to go 11-for-21 from the line is pathetic. For us to win would have been fantastic."
The Vulcans (2-2) led for most of the game, including a 29-27 lead at halftime. Hilo went ahead by as many as eight, the last at 54-46 with 7:41 remaining. LSU (3-1) clawed back on 3-pointers by Torris Bright and Ronald Dupree to close to 57-56.
Scott Prather's 3-pointer with 3:56 to go put the Vulcans up, 62-56. Hilo never scored again as LSU ran off eight unanswered points, including Dupree's game-winning dunk with nine seconds to go.
The Vulcans had a shot to win it at the buzzer but Brady Hyde's 3-point attempt bounced off the rim.
Prather led the Vulcans with a game-high 18. David LaQua added 15. Dupree finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Anthony Hudson had 16 and Collis Temple 11.
Mercer 72, South Carolina State 61: Scott Emerson's first career double-double came against Hawaii-Hilo in this event in 1999. Yesterday, the junior forward recorded his 21st, scoring 24 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead the Bears (1-2) over the Bulldogs (0-3).
Emerson missed Friday's opener, as well as last week's loss to Minnesota, with an ankle injury. Yesterday, he hit on 10 of his 17 field-goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, to share game-high scoring honors.
Also in double figures for the Bears were Aleem Muhammad with 23 points and Clarence Baker with 11 points and 10 assists.
For the Bulldogs, LaRon Mapp finished with 24 points, Willie Jones 15 and Luis Radford 12.
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