Quakers close out 'Bows

Hawaii had its chances to beat Penn but threw them away

OPPORTUNITY was banging on the door.

Hawaii couldn't answer.

The Rainbow Warriors certainly had their chances to pull out a comeback win over Penn last night at the Stan Sheriff Center. But each time UH threatened to sneak past, the Quakers were there to slam the door and hung on for a 58-55 win.

"We just couldn't get that bucket and we couldn't get that one stop we needed to get over the hump," UH guard Matt Lojeski said.

PENN - 58 HAWAII - 55 NEXT UP vs. Nevada, Thursday

After falling behind early, the Rainbows trailed by one at halftime, closed to within a point three more times in the second half, and were within a basket in the final seconds.

But where the Quakers hit key shots at critical moments, the Rainbows repeatedly came up empty.

"I said in the pregame talk, you don't want to get behind this ballclub," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "They make you work and they will wear you down. And if you make a mistake defensively, they'll score, usually in clutch situations."

A crowd of 5,509 witnessed UH's second loss on its current homestand as the Rainbows fell to 7-4. The 'Bows now have a week to regroup before resuming their Western Athletic Conference schedule against nationally ranked Nevada on Jan. 5.

Penn (4-4) snapped a three-game skid, following losses to Temple, Duke and Villanova. The Quakers face Brigham Young-Hawaii tomorrow in Laie.

Hawaii's frustration came down to two statistical categories. The Rainbows committed 17 turnovers, many coming at inopportune times, and went 11-for-22 from the free-throw line.

"It comes down to free throws and execution," UH guard Matt Lojeski said.

"That's a lot of beating yourself against a good team," Wallace said.

UH guard Deonte Tatum scored a career-high 17 points, while Lojeski added 13. Forward Matthew Gipson finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Forward Julian Sensley, Hawaii's leading scorer, was held to four points. He scored the game's first basket on a putback 6 seconds into the game, but didn't record another point until the 6:47 mark of the second half.

"We focused on Sensley, tried to keep him to a minimum and it worked out," Penn guard Ibrahim Jaaber said.

UH's 2-0 advantage would also be the last time the Rainbows led.

Penn hadn't played in 16 days, but the lengthy layoff did little to hamper Jaaber, the Ivy League's leading scorer. Jaaber had 13 points in the first half and finished with 26 on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor.

"I think that was one of the reasons we were ready to go. I think we were a little fresher than they were," Jaaber said of the holiday break.

Forward Mark Zoller added 13 and Eric Osmundson hit for 11, two coming on a critical driving layup with less than a minute left.

"I think our shots were timely tonight," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "That's what you have to do to win a tough game like this on the road against a good team. You've got to be timely."

The Rainbows and Quakers engaged in a half-court battle. After Penn jumped out to a nine-point lead, UH chipped away and went into halftime down 28-27.

Hawaii started cold and trailed 14-5 seven minutes into the game. The Rainbows were outscored by Penn forward Mark Zoller, who accounted for the Quakers' first seven points, in that span.

The Rainbows warmed up later in the half and closed the half with a 9-3 run over the final 4:14. Gipson's 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with 19 seconds left brought UH to within one at 28-27.

Penn managed to hold on to a slim lead early in the second half and gradually pulled ahead by nine at 50-41 when Jaaber popped in a 3-pointer from the left side with 8 minutes left.

UH closed the gap to 52-49 when Lojeski hit a 3-pointer from the corner and drained a turnaround jumper with 4:39 left. After a 2-minute scoring drought, Tatum got a jumper in the lane to roll in to cut Penn's lead to 52-51 with 2:40 left.

But Jaaber responded with a shot from the right corner and Osmundson's driving layup put Penn up by five with 54.7 seconds remaining.

Penn helped keep UH within striking distance by missing three free throws, and UH closed to 57-55 with 13 seconds left on a Tatum layup. Following a timeout, Lojeski stole the inbounds pass but his dish to Ahmet Gueye sailed out of bounds.

Penn's Steve Danley then hit the front-end of a one-and-one, but missed the second to keep UH alive. The Rainbows worked the ball upcourt, but Sensley's 3-pointer from the left side at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim to seal the win for Penn.

"This was a terrific win for us," Dunphy said. "I'm proud of the way our guys hung in there at the end. When things got tight, each time I think our guys made big plays

Pennsylvania 58, Hawaii 55

QUAKERS (4-4)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Jaaber	9	14	3	6	38	5	0	24
Danley	1	4	2	4	27	6	5	4
Osmundson	5	12	0	1	35	1	0	11
Zoller	6	10	1	4	34	6	0	13
Ebede	2	3	0	0	23	1	1	4
Grandieri	0	2	0	0	22	4	1	0
Whitehurst	1	4	0	0	21	1	2	2
TEAM						2
Totals	24	49	6	15	200	26	9	58

RAINBOW WARRIORS (7-4)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Gipson	3	10	5	7	33	8	0	12
Lojeski	6	12	0	0	38	5	2	13
Tatum	6	9	3	5	29	2	2	17
Sensley	1	6	2	6	32	3	2	4
Gueye	2	6	1	1	34	9	0	5
Thompson	2	4	0	1	21	1	4	4
Botez	0	0	0	2	13	1	2	0
TEAM						4
Totals	20	47	11	22	200	33	12	55

Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.

Halftime -- Penn 28, Hawaii 27.

3-point goals -- Penn 4-17 (Jaaber 3-5, Osmundson 1-6, Ebede 0-1, Grandieri 0-1, Whitehurst 0-2, Zoller 0-2), Hawaii 4-12 (Tatum 2-3, Gipson 1-2, Lojeski 1-3, Thompson 0-1, Sensley 0-3). Personal fouls --Penn 21, Hawaii 14. Fouled out--Ebede.

Steals -- Penn 10 (Jaaber 2, Danley 2, Osmundson 2, Zoller 2, Grandieri, Whitehurst), Hawaii 5 (Lojeski 2, Thompson 2, Gueye). Blocked shots -- Penn 2 (Danley, Zoller), Hawaii 4 (Gueye 2, Botez, Gipson). Turnovers -- Penn 12 (Danley 3, Zoller 3, Jaaber 2, Osmundson, Ebede, Grandieri, Whitehurst), Hawaii 17 (Lojeski 4, Gipson 3, Sensley 3, Gueye 3, Thompson 2, Botez, Tatum). Officials -- Reynolds, Stupin, Barr. A -- 5,509.