Rammed!

Colorado State beats Hawaii, ending the Rainbows’ run of Rainbow Classic titles at four

After surviving several close calls over the years, the Hawaii basketball team's tenure as Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic champion finally ended last night with a 67-61 semifinal loss to Colorado State at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Colorado St.: 67 Hawaii: 61 Next up: vs. Northwestern State, today

UH's string of Rainbow Classic championships ends at four as the Rainbows (5-3) fell short of reaching the title game for the first time since 1998.

It was Hawaii's first Classic loss since falling to Tennessee in the 2000 championship game, breaking a 13-game winning streak in the tournament.

UH plays Northwestern State in the third-place game today at 5 p.m.

Colorado State (9-1), off to its best start since the 1997-98 season, faces Iowa State for the championship at 7:30.

The Rams were led by forward Jason Smith's 17 points and 11 rebounds. Cory Lewis finished with 15 points.

CSU's frontcourt height also contributed to a 43-27 rebounding edge as the Rams erased a five-point halftime deficit with a 13-2 run to open the second half and never trailed again.

"We self-destructed," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "We're really good with a press in our offense, but it wasn't what (the Rams) were doing."

"They dominated us on the boards, that's just energy and hard work. ... They energized their big guys in the second half and we didn't."

Hawaii suffered through a cold night from the field, shooting a season-low 35 percent.

Forward Julian Sensley led UH with 14 points, Ahmet Gueye added 12 points and 12 rebounds, and guard Bobby Nash came off the bench to contribute 11 points.

"Coach said we couldn't have any lulls in this game and that happened in the second half," Nash said.

Sensley and guard Matt Lojeski, UH's top two scorers, shot a combined 4-for-19 from the field as the Rainbows struggled to find any rhythm on offense before a crowd of 5,218.

"It's just mental toughness, there's really no excuse, you just have to be strong," Sensley said. "We beat ourselves tonight, definitely. Just small things like not catching the ball or being in the right spot.

"Mentally we didn't come ready to play."

Hawaii made just nine of 28 shots from the field in the first half, but managed to take a 29-24 halftime lead against the Rams, who didn't fare much better at 11-for-30.

The 'Bows trailed early but got a boost off the bench from center Chris Botez and guard Bobby Nash, who had 11 points, to catch and pass CSU.

With UH trailing 17-15, Botez scored six straight points and gave UH 21-17 lead on a tip-in off a Deonte Tatum miss.

Nash missed UH's previous two games with a shoulder injury, and entered last night's game with 10 minutes left in the first half. He had two steals and hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give UH a 24-20 lead at the 3:40 mark.

Botez and Tatum led UH with eight points each at the break.

"When you've got your shooters not scoring, it's tough," Wallace said.

Colorado State took control with its hot start in the second half. The Rams harassed the Rainbows into turnovers with pressure defense in the backcourt, and took a 37-31 lead on Lewis' jumper at the free-throw line.

"I thought the Rainbow Warriors outplayed us, they were tougher than we were the first 20 minutes," CSU coach Dale Layer said. "They were the aggressor and we were trying to react. I thought we turned the tables on them the second half, I though we were the aggressor and we were attacking the rim."

Sensley converted his first field goal of the game on a driving layup with 15:10 left.

CSU opened up a double-digit lead midway through the second half, going up 48-38 when Sean Morris stole the ball in the backcourt and scored on a reverse layup.

UH made just three field goals in the first 14 minutes of the second half. But the 'Bows scratched together a six-point spurt on four free throws and a putback by Gueye.

UH crept closer when the Rams were called for goal-tending on a shot by Sensley as he was fouled. He converted the free throw to bring UH to within 52-48 with 4:07 left.

But CSU pulled away again and made free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.

Iowa State 81, Northwestern State 77, 2 OT

The Cyclones guard combo of Will Blalock and Curtis Stinson scored 22 points each as Iowa State (8-3) won a fierce double-overtime battle over the Demons (7-3) in the first semifinal game.

"I'm relieved and I'm elated," Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan said.

Iowa State was awarded an extra point with 10:26 left in regulation when Stinson missed the first of two free throws, but the official scorer gave him credit for making both. Both coaches were informed of the situation when the error was discovered, but the officials said the score couldn't be changed at that point.

"That's unfortunate it happened, but we really can't dwell on that. We have to move forward," NSU coach Mike McConathy said. "We just have to be bigger than that and move forward instead of saying, 'we should have won that game.' "

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Western Michigan 62, Loyola Marymount 61

WMU forward Joe Reitz's putback at the buzzer lifted the Broncos (3-5) past the Lions in the first game of the day.

Stane's Buford led WMU with 18 points. LMU (3-8) led by as many as 11 in the second half, but lost its second close game of the tournament. Forward Chris Ayer had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Lions.

Oregon State 61, South Florida 56

OSU guard Chris Stephens scored 21 points as the Beavers (5-4) held off a Bulls (5-5) rally to reach the fifth-place game.

Sasa Cuic added 12 points for Oregon State. USF's Solomon Jones finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

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