GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH's Nkeruwem Akpan battled Bradley's Phillip Gilbert and James Gillingham for this rebound last night.
Nkeruwem Akpan logged his name onto the guest list of that elusive place known as The Zone last night. Akpan’s outburst
propels Rainbows
Hawaii opens Classic with win over Bradley
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe sophomore forward from Nigeria came off the bench to hit his first 10 shots on the way to a career-high 25 points in Hawaii's 90-69 win over Bradley in the opening round of the Rainbow Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
And no one was more surprised with the final tally than Akpan.
"I just come in for defense, that's my pride," Akpan said. "I was so lucky today. We played as a team and I had my shots and I made them."
Akpan threatened the school record for consecutive field-goal attempts made with his hot start. The record remains 12, set by Aaron Strayhorn against UNLV on Feb. 21, 1981.
Akpan went to the bench with a little more than six minutes left in the game after making 11 of 13 attempts and grabbing eight rebounds.
His previous scoring high didn't count officially, as he dropped in 17 points in an exhibition game with Hawaii-Hilo on Dec. 9. Other than that, his best game was an eight-point outing against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 24.
Akpan's performance was part of a big night for the Rainbow big men as center Haim Shimonovich added 20 points against the Braves.
"I always look for him and he always look for me," Shimonovich said.
Akpan made all six of his field-goal attempts in the first half, establishing a new career high by throwing down a dunk to finish a fast break at the 9:08 mark of the half.
He maintained his hot hand after halftime, hitting his first shot off an assist from Shimonovich to give Hawaii a commanding 52-37 lead.
He returned the favor two minutes later, dropping a pass to Shimonovich for an easy bucket.
"Haim is a great passer and I look up to that," Akpan said. "I'd rather pass for someone to finish than me getting the points.
"They all did that. Carl English turned down his shots to give assists."
Akpan hit his first four shots of the second half before missing a short jumper with under eight minutes left in the game. English scored on the putback as Hawaii pulled away from Bradley.
When Akpan was replaced by Phil Martin, he went to the bench to a standing ovation from the crowd.
"That was big time for me," he said. "The people of Hawaii are great. They're good friends and I really respect that they come out to share this."
Back for more: Tennessee Tech assistant coach G.G. Smith has yet to experience defeat at the Rainbow Classic.
Smith was a guard on the Georgia team that won the 1996 Rainbow Classic. The Bulldogs, then coached by Smith's father, Tubby, defeated Maryland 73-65 in the championship game.
Six years later, G.G. is back as a first-year assistant with the Golden Eagles.
"It's exciting like it was the first time," Smith said after Tennessee Tech's 62-50 win over Alcorn State yesterday. "It's such a prestigious event. When Coach (Mike) Sutton told us we were coming for the Rainbow I just told the guys how we won it here and we're going to try to duplicate that."
"It was a fun time. When you win this tournament it's a big deal."
First-year Tech head coach Sutton served as an assistant to the elder Smith at Georgia and Kentucky. When he left Kentucky to coach the Golden Eagles, he brought G.G. with him. G.G. had been the Wildcats' head manager for two years.
Sutton's place on the Kentucky coaching staff was filled by former UH assistant Scott Rigot.
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