DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Carl English drove to the basket in front of New Orleans' A.J. Meredith, as the Rainbows raced to a 32-20 halftime lead.
UH wins easy On the shortest day of the year, the Hawaii basketball team made short work of wrapping up its 16th consecutive home victory last night.
over New Orleans
The Rainbows lead by 20 early
on the way to winning the Adidas FestivalBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows (4-1) used another impressive outing by junior guard Carl English, a breakout game for junior guard Michael Kuebler, and an even more impressive defensive effort to stifle New Orleans 68-56 at the Stan Sheriff Center. English finished with 22 points, 15 in the first half, as Hawaii claimed the Adidas Festival title.
English also claimed MVP honors and Hawaii two other spots on the all-tournament team. Also named were Rainbow junior center Haim Shimonovich (8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) and senior guard Mark Campbell (7 assists, 2 blocks). Others selected were UNO's Hector Romero, Henry Domercant of Eastern Illinois and Cal Poly's Jason Allen.
In the earlier game, Cal Poly outlasted Eastern Illinois 73-70 in overtime.
"It was not just a good win, it was a great win, because that was a good team," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said of UNO. "Just like we did (Friday), we jumped on them early with very good team defense.
"Romero is a great player, but we made him their only factor."
For the third consecutive game, the Rainbows held their opponent under 23 points in the first half. Hawaii led by as many as 20 and were up 32-13 before the Privateers (7-3) scored the last seven points to close to 32-20 at intermission.
For the second straight game, junior forward Phil Martin drew the toughest defensive assignment. Martin held Romero, UNO's leading scorer, to a single 3-pointer in the first 10 minutes -- and that trey just beat the shot clock -- to help UH jump out to a 24-5 margin with 9:14 remaining before halftime.
Martin headed to the bench after picking up his second foul. His replacement, Vaidotas Peciukas, picked up the scoring, with all 11 of his points coming in the last 11 minutes of the first half.
"It was good that, with three of our starters on the bench with fouls, we could go deep into the bench," said English, who was in early foul trouble along with Martin and Shimonovich. "It gives players like Vaidotas and Tony (Akpan) more confidence every time out."
Romero had nothing but confidence, as well as all but three of the Privateers' 20 halftime points. Kentrell Martin scored UNO's first basket and the other point came on a free throw by Billy McDade.
Romero, who had a career-high 38 Friday against Cal Poly, continued his scoring frenzy in the second half. He scored six of his team's first 12 points after intermission as UNO stayed in the game and finished with a game-high 25 points.
Kuebler, in his second consecutive start, gave Hawaii some breathing room and the Rainbow fans free breadsticks. Kuebler hit his third 3-pointer with 10:40 to go to put UH ahead 51-32; it was UH's eighth 3-pointer, the number needed for a pizza company to make good on its free breadsticks promotion.
Kuebler finished with 17 points, tying his career high. He was 6 of 7 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from 3-point distance.
Also in double figures for the Privateers was Johnell Smith, with 15 second-half points.
"We were fired up to play these guys," said Kuebler. "In the second half, they started keying on our other guys and went to a zone. I just set up outside."
Hawaii takes today off and will begin preparing for the Rainbow Classic tomorrow morning. The Rainbows open Friday against Bradley.
Cal Poly 73, Eastern Illinois 70 OT: Sophomore center Phil Johnson scored 17 points to lead the Mustangs (3-5) over the Panthers (3-7).
Junior guard Eric Jackson added 15 points, including Cal Poly's first five points in overtime to give his team the lead for good at 65-64. Also in double figures for the Mustangs was James Grace with 10.
Senior guard Henry Domercant led EIU with 24 points, 16 coming in the opening 20 minutes. J.R. Reynolds added 14 and Jesse Mackinson 11 for the Panthers.
A surge in the final five minutes of the first half allowed the Mustangs to get back into the game. Cal Poly trailed by as many as 12, 31-19, but got two 3-pointers during a 14-5 run to tie it at the half, 36-36.
The seesaw second half saw the Panthers lead by as many as three (48-45) and the Mustangs by many as five (57-52). Domercant's two free throws put EIU up 60-58 with 1:40 to go but Jackson sent it into overtime with his jumper at the 1:19 mark making it 60-60.
Hawaii 68, New Orleans 56
NEW ORLEANS (7-3)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Meredith 0 2 0 0 30 3 3 0 Martin 2 6 0 1 24 5 0 4 Smith 6 17 3 4 32 4 2 15 Romero 9 17 5 8 38 7 1 25 Lisauskas 2 2 0 1 21 2 0 4 McDade 0 5 3 4 17 1 1 3 Brown 0 3 0 0 6 1 0 0 Mann 1 1 2 4 12 2 0 4 Buggs 0 5 1 3 20 6 0 1 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 20 58 14 25 200 36 7 56 RAINBOWS (4-1)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 0 2 0 0 13 1 0 0 Shimonovich 4 7 0 0 28 7 2 8 Campbell 1 4 2 2 37 6 7 4 English 6 13 7 10 34 6 3 22 Kuebler 6 7 2 2 37 1 2 17 Takaki 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Zivanovic 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 Carter 0 3 0 1 12 0 1 0 Peciukas 4 7 1 3 11 3 1 11 Akpan 3 6 0 0 24 8 2 6 Team 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 24 49 12 18 200 35 18 68 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 32, New Orleans 20.
3-point goals--Hawaii 8-15 (English 3-6, Kuebler 3-3, Peciukas 2-4, Campbell 0-1, Carter 0-1), New Orleans 2-11 (Romero 2-4, Buggs 0-1, Smith 0-3, McDade 0-3). Personal fouls--Hawaii 21, New Orleans 19. Technical fouls--None. Steals--Hawaii 9 (Campbell 2, Peciukas 2, Akpan 2, Carter, English, Kuebler); New Orleans 5 (Meredith, Martin, Smith, Romero, Mann). Blocked shots--Hawaii 7 (Shimonovich 3, Campbell 2, Kuebler, Peciukas); New Orleans 3 (Romero 2, Martin). Turnovers--Hawaii 22 (Campbell 6, English 6, Kuebler 3, Peciukas 3, Shimonovich 2, Martin, Carter); New Orleans 18 (Romero 6, Smith 4, Buggs 3, Meredith 2, Martin, Lisauskas, Brown). Officials--Christman, Zetcher, Yoshida. A--6,096.
UH Athletics
