UH puts pain away

The Rainbow Warriors defeat Northwestern State without Julian Sensley and Bobby Nash

A championship wasn't at stake for the Hawaii basketball team last night, but the Rainbow Warriors' 80-76 win over Northwestern State was no less rewarding.

With UH's rotation depleted by injuries, a patchwork lineup rebounded from a semifinal loss to Colorado State on Thursday to claim third-place in the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"They're all rewarding," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "But those guys out there felt good afterwards, and I feel very good for them, because you're not expected to win against a good team playing two freshmen and a few guys who haven't been playing."

A strained Achilles' sidelined leading scorer Julian Sensley, and guard Bobby Nash will seek a medical hardship due to a sprained shoulder. Their absence left the Rainbows with eight scholarship players and a walk-on available to play last night.

Freshman guard Hiram Thompson, who had played less than 4 minutes this season, came off the bench to score 15 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the field and spark UH (6-3).

"He came in and stepped it up and played like a lottery pick," senior forward Matthew Gipson said. "I think we're going to call him 'lotto' now."

Forward Ahmet Gueye scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds despite playing the final 10 minutes with four fouls. Gipson and guard Matt Lojeski added 17 points each.

"We knew everybody had to get involved, everybody stepped it up," Lojeski said. "It seemed like a lot of people were scoring, a lot of people were getting involved in the offense."

Luke Rogers paced NSU (7-4) with 17 points, and had an open look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 8 seconds left. But his shot was off the mark and an attempted tip-in also bounced off the rim.

The third-place finish is UH's lowest in the Classic since 1998, when the 'Bows placed fourth. UH won five of the next six tournaments before falling short of the title this year.

But they found satisfaction in overcoming a short bench to pull out the win last night.

"When an animal's got his back up against the wall and he's hurt, that's when he's most deadly. That's what we felt like today," Gipson said. "To us this was a championship and that's what we came out and played like. We played like a team, like a family."

UH shuffled the lineup, with freshman Dominic Waters getting his first career start at point guard. Senior Deonte Tatum, who normally runs the point, moved over to small forward in place of Sensley.

"He called the plays and orchestrated from there and he's a settling factor, the team leader, and was able to keep them all together," Wallace said of Tatum. "If I'd pick an MVP, he's my MVP."

The new-look lineup fell behind 7-0 before rallying and eventually taking a 27-20 lead on a layup by Gipson on an inbounds play.

Northwestern State responded with a 10-0 run and led 32-29 until Tatum drained a 3-pointer from the right corner, his first of the season and only the second of his UH career, to tie the game.

UH trailed 39-36 at halftime, but went ahead to stay when Thompson entered the game less than a minute into the second half.

Thompson twice drove through the Demons' pressure defense to score on layups, then fed Gueye for a basket to put UH up 42-41.

"That's most of my game, transition, finding people and just creating," Thompson said. "They played right into how I like to play."

"(Thompson) comes in and has an unbelievable second half," NSU coach Mike McConathy said. "He played with confidence."

UH led by as many as nine, and was able to maintain a cushion until Rogers scored on a driving shot and drained a 3-pointer to cut the UH lead to 77-76 with 20 seconds left.

After Lojeski made a free throw, Rogers found himself open on the right wing, but the ball twice refused to fall.

"(The Demons) tipped it and it squirted out," Gipson said. "It was a God rebound."

Sensley's injury caused him to miss a game for the first time in his UH career and Nash will sit out the rest of the season.

Wallace said guard Matt Gibson will also be out a couple more weeks. Reserve center Milos Zivanovic left the team this week, electing to return home to Serbia and Montenegro.

FIFTH PLACE

Oregon State 73, Western Michigan 68

The Beavers (6-4) claimed the consolation title led by guard Chris Stephens' 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. Forward Nick DeWitz added 14 points and blocked three shots.

The Broncos (3-6) were led by forward Andrew Hershberger's 19 points and 15 rebounds.

SEVENTH PLACE

South Florida 54, Loyola Marymount 50

James Holmes' 3-pointer from the left wing with 31.8 seconds left lifted the Bulls (6-5) past the Lions (3-9), who rallied from a 34-19 halftime deficit to take a one-point lead with less than a minute left.

Holmes was 4-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with 24 points. Chris Ayer scored 12 points for LMU, which lost three games by a total of eight points in the tournament.

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