DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Michael Kuebler was fouled by Eastern Illinois' J.R. Reynolds last night.

Rainbows survive
Domercant

The nation’s No. 6 scorer manages 25,
but it’s not enough

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

Dr. Jekyll, meet Mr. Hyde.

In a tale of two cities an ocean and six days apart, the Hawaii basketball team reinvented itself with a flex lineup and rediscovered its winning ways. Behind 19 points from Carl English and 18 from Haim Shimonovich, the Rainbows downed Eastern Illinois 81-65 in last night's second game of the Adidas Festival.

In front of a holiday crowd of 4,110, Hawaii (3-1) ran its Stan Sheriff Center winning streak to 15 and erased the very bad memories of last Saturday's 60-49 loss at San Diego State. The Rainbows will take on a tougher challenge at 8 tonight when facing New Orleans (7-2).

The Privateers, behind a career-high 38 points from Hector Romero, pulled away to an 89-75 victory over Cal Poly. The Mustangs (2-5) meet the Panthers (3-6) in today's 6 p.m. game.

"Tonight I came out with energy, was ready to play and produce," said Shimonovich, who added a season-high 13 rebounds in his first double-double of the year.

"We looked fired up and ready to go at the start of the game," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "And we got Haim back in it."

Last week, the Rainbows came out sluggish against the Aztecs, scoring only 22 first-half points. Last night, Hawaii was energized from the beginning.

With junior guard Michael Kuebler making his first start and junior guard Jason Carter subbing in the first seven minutes, Hawaii reached 22 points on English's 3-pointer with 8:24 left in the first half for a 22-5 lead.

Three-pointers by Jake Sinclair and J.R. Reynolds pulled the Panthers to 24-11, but the Rainbows got their transition game going during an impressive 14-2 run en route to a 43-21 halftime lead.

Shimonovich and Mark Campbell were scoreless against the Aztecs. Last night, the pair combined for 19 first-half points. Shimonovich also had seven of his game-high 13 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes as Hawaii took a 24-11 rebounding edge into the locker room.

The Rainbows came out of it cold, while EIU's Henry Domercant came out hot. Domercant, currently ranked sixth nationally in scoring (25.6 ppg), had 10 of his team's first 12 points of the second half and the Panthers turned the 22-point halftime deficit into 11 at 47-36.

But the Panthers lost steam when senior center Jan Thompson fell, dislocating his right shoulder, with 14:16 to go. Shimonovich ended Hawaii's 4 1/2-minute scoring drought with a basket to spark a 13-5 spurt to help put the game away.

Also in double figures for Hawaii were Campbell (15) and Carter (11). Domercant finished with 25 points, 21 in the second half, and Jesse Mackinson added 12.

"We were upset after last week and came out with a game plan tonight," said English. "He (Domercant) is a great player, but Phil (Martin) shut him down in the first half.

"It's tough being up 22 points at half. They came back and then we had to turn it up again."

With some help from his teammates, Martin held Domercant to four first-half points on 2-of-10 shooting. Domercant finished 10 of 26 from the field.

"I thought Phil's defense in the first half set the pace for the rest of the game," Wallace said. "I knew (Domercant) would get hot sooner or later, but we made him work for everything he got."

UNO 89, Cal Poly 75: Privateers' coach Monte Towe called it an outstanding win. He can thank his outstanding senior forward.

Romero showed what he could do from the start, scoring 20 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Venezuelan has now scored in double figures in every game (37) he has played for UNO.

Cal Poly was ahead for most of the first half, behind the shooting of Shane Schilling and Diaby Kamara. Schilling hit three 3-pointers en route to 16 first-half points and Kamara scored 10 of the Mustangs' first 12.

The Privateers trailed 26-22 when Romero took over with 8:57 left before intermission. He had 16 of UNO's final 27 points to help his team to a 49-43 lead at half.

UNO used a 12-6 run out of the locker room to take a 61-49 margin. Cal Poly wouldn't go away, pulling to within 63-62 with 10:04 remaining.

But Schilling went down with a leg cramp, taking the Mustangs' chances with him. UNO outscored Cal Poly 13-6 to pull away.

Johnell Smith added 16 points and Kyle Buggs 10 for the Privateers. For Cal Poly, Schilling finished with 25 points, Jason Allen 19 and Kamara 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Hawaii 81, E. Illinois 65

RAINBOWS (0-0, 3-1)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Martin	2	8	2	4	24	7	0	6
Shimonovich	8	12	2	3	35	13	4	18
Campbell	3	3	2	6	39	3	6	15
English	7	16	2	6	32	5	2	19
Kuebler	2	6	0	2	24	4	1	4
Lombard	0	0	0	0	0+	0	0	0
Takaki	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Alama-Francis	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	2
Zivanovic	1	1	0	2	2	0	0	2
Carter	5	8	0	0	18	2	2	11
Peciukas	0	0	1	2	4	1	1	1
Holliday	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Pickart	0	1	0	0	0+	1	0	0
Akpan	1	3	1	3	19	7	1	3
Team	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Totals	30	60	17	32	200	45	17	81

E. ILLINOIS (0-1, 0-0)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Thompson	1	1	0	0	15	3	0	2
Lewis	1	3	0	0	19	2	2	2
Reynolds	3	6	0	0	25	2	0	9
Domercant	10	26	3	4	30	4	2	25
Mackinson	5	8	1	2	29	1	2	12
Gomes	3	4	0	0	9	1	0	6
Sinclair	1	5	0	0	16	1	1	3
Wright	0	3	0	0	16	4	2	0
Taylor	0	1	0	0	4	2	0	0
Roos	1	3	0	0	15	2	0	3
Gobczynski	1	2	1	2	20	4	4	3
Thorsen	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Team	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Totals	26	62	5	8	200	28	13	65

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 43, E. Illinois 21.

3-point goals--Hawaii 4-7 (English 3-5, Carter 1-2), E. Illinois 8-20 (Reynolds 3-6, Domercant 2-7, Mackinson 1-1, Sinclair 1-2, Wright 0-2, Roos 1-2). Personal fouls--Hawaii 13, E. Illinois 27. Technical fouls--E. Illinois 1: Team. Steals--Hawaii 3 (Carter 2, Campbell); E. Illinois 7 (Lewis 2, Domercant 2, Thompson, Gomes, Taylor). Blocked shots--Hawaii 5 (Shimonovich 2, Martin, Campbell, Kuebler); E. Illinois 1 (Taylor). Turnovers--Hawaii 17(Shimonovich 5, Martin 3, English 3, Carter 3, Akpan 2, Campbell); E. Illinois 16 (Wright 4, Lewis 3, Reynolds 3, Thompson, Domercant, Mackinson, Gomes, Taylor, Roos). Officials--Christman, Zetcher, Peterson. A--N/A.