[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Phil Martin laid in two points in front of San Jose State's Kareem Guilbeaux in the first period last night.
’Bows slip
past SJSUThe Spartans, the WAC’s
last-place team, give UH a scare
As far as the Hawaii basketball team is concerned, the best part of the Rainbow Warriors' win over San Jose State last night is the fact that they won't have to face the Spartans again in the regular season.
San Jose State, the last-place team in the Western Athletic Conference, threatened the Rainbow Warriors' spot at the top of the standings. But UH escaped with a 56-55 victory last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 7,002 watched Hawaii stave off the Spartans' upset bid and maintain its lead atop the WAC.
"(The Spartans) won the tempo battle, but we won the game," UH coach Riley Wallace said.
UH guard Logan Lee's two free throws with 5.7 seconds left proved to be the difference as the Rainbows improved to 16-4 overall and 8-2 in the conference. They remain a half-game ahead of Texas-El Paso.
San Jose State fell short in its bid for its first WAC win as the Spartans lost their 12th straight game and dropped to 5-15 and 0-10.
The Spartans nearly duplicated their feat of a year ago, when they ended Hawaii's 24-game home-court winning streak. They also gave the 'Bows all they could handle in UH's 83-76 win in San Jose on Jan. 10.
"We didn't give up the lead," Wallace said. "They did whatever they had to do to keep that lead. A year ago right down the stretch we gave up the lead and they took it to us at the end."
"They're always a tough team," Hawaii guard Michael Kuebler said. "They haven't won a game in the league, but they still come out tough and play you hard. Sometimes it's not always that easy to get up for those kinds of teams."
Kuebler led the Rainbows with 14 points, while forward Julian Sensley added 13. Center Haim Shimonovich contributed 11 points and nine rebounds.
"The really difference guy I thought tonight was Sensley. We just didn't have an answer for him," SJSU coach Phil Johnson said.
San Jose State used just six players most of the game and kept center Eric Walton on the bench due to an illness.
Marquin Chandler, one of three Spartans to play all 40 minutes, scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and finished with nine rebounds. Demetrius Brown scored 15 points.
"It's like we're snakebit," Johnson said.
"Overall, the effort was outstanding. ... There are no moral victories, but I'm pleased with the effort. We just came up a little bit short."
Though undersized, SJSU outrebounded UH 31-23 and the Spartans' slow-down strategy kept the Spartans within striking distance throughout the game.
Hawaii guard Michael Kuebler goes up for two ahead of San Jose State's Michael McFadden in the opening seconds of the first period at the Stan Sheriff Center last night. Kuebler, who scored 14 points, said of the Spartans: "They haven't won a game in the league, but they still come out tough and play you hard. Sometimes it's not always that easy to get up for those kinds of teams."
The Spartans spread the court, which created one-on-one matchups, and found open shooters or drew fouls when Hawaii defenders helped out on drives to the basket.
"You play defense for 30 seconds and just that last five they'll catch you sleeping," Kuebler said. "It's tough to stay into it that long every time down."
Hawaii opened up a nine-point lead early in the contest, but the Spartans went on a 10-2 run and cut its deficit to one on Chandler's driving shot.
Kuebler halted the run by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to put UH up 25-18.
SJSU's Demetrius Brown hit a jumper at the buzzer to bring the Spartans within four at 26-22 heading into halftime. The officials reviewed television replays to determine whether Brown's foot was behind the 3-point line, but ruled the shot a 2-pointer.
Brown, who led SJSU with 10 first-half points, picked up his third and fourth fouls in the first minute of the second half.
UH hit five of its first seven shots of the second half, but couldn't pull away from the Spartans as Chandler scored nine of SJSU's first 11 points.
Hawaii went up 47-39 on a layup by Sensley, but SJSU scored five straight points to close to three with 7:15 left.
A jumper by Shimonovich gave UH a six-point cushion with 3:22 left, but Bim Okunrinboye drained a 3-pointer at the 1:22 mark to cut the Rainbows' lead to 52-49.
After the teams traded baskets, SJSU took possession with 38 seconds left and got to within one on a putback with Chandler with 7.6 seconds showing on the clock.
Okunrinboye then fouled Lee, who drained both free throws. After an SJSU timeout, Okunrinboye's 3-pointer fell short and Brown put in the basket with 0.2 seconds remaining. Sensley inbounded the ball to Shimonovich to finally end the game.
"It was a good solid defense on their part," Wallace said. "I'm sure (Johnson's) saying they deserved to win it, but I think our guys deserved to win it because we fought hard too."
Hawaii 56, San Jose State 55
spartans (5-15, 0-10 WAC)
Warriors (16-4, 8-2 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Guilbeaux 2 5 0 0 40 0 2 4 Lilly 2 11 1 2 40 3 0 5 McFadden 2 3 0 0 11 1 0 5 Chandler 9 14 1 1 40 9 1 19 Brown 5 10 4 4 32 5 1 14 Okunrinboye 2 6 3 4 37 7 1 8 Wilson 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Team 6 Totals 22 49 9 11 200 31 5 55
Key -- fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 3 10 2 2 37 2 0 8 Shimonovich 5 6 1 2 28 9 2 11 Lee 1 3 5 5 25 1 3 7 Kuebler 5 13 0 0 37 1 1 14 Sensley 5 9 3 4 38 5 2 13 Carter 1 2 0 1 18 1 0 2 Blackett 0 2 1 3 15 3 2 1 Jesinskis 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 Team 1 Totals 20 46 12 17 200 23 10 56
Halftime -- Hawaii 26, SJSU 22
3-point goals -- SJSU 2-10 (Okunrinboye 1-2, McFadden 1-2, Chandler 0-1, Lilly 0-5), Hawaii 4-12 (Kuebler 4-9, Lee 0-1, Sensley 0-2). Personal fouls -- SJSU 17, Hawaii 13. Fouled out -- None.
Steals -- SJSU 1 (Guilbeaux), Hawaii 5 (Carter 2, Kuebler, Sensley, Blackett). Blocked shots -- SJSU 1 (Chandler), Hawaii 6 (Shimonovich 3, Kuebler 2, Blackett). Turnovers -- SJSU 10 (Chandler 4, Okunrinboye 2, team 2, Brown, Lilly), Hawaii 7 (Martin 3, Shimonovich 2, Sensley 2). Officials -- Kaster, Reed, Barr. A -- 8,337.
