'Bows take Pride

Lojeski's late free throw allows UH to hold off Hofstra in the Great Alaska Shootout

ANCHORAGE, Alaska » Matt Lojeski stepped to the free-throw line with 3.7 seconds left last night and his team clinging to a three-point lead.

When the front end of the bonus situation fell for Lojeski, it allowed the Hawaii basketball team to leave its Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout opener standing victorious.

HAWAII -- 80 HOFSTRA -- 79 NEXT UP vs. California tonight

The last of Lojeski's 17 points proved important in Hawaii's 80-79 win over Hofstra inside a half-empty Sullivan Arena. The senior missed his second free-throw attempt before Hofstra dynamo Loren Stokes drained a long 3-pointer as time expired, allowing the Rainbow Warriors to escape.

"Matt is always a very good free-throw shooter, I had extreme confidence in him," said Hawaii junior Bobby Nash, who matched Lojeski's 17-point output. "When he missed the second one, I did clinch up a little bit."

But the bottom line is this: Hawaii's long Great Alaska Shootout nightmare is over because it didn't completely melt down in a place where everything is frozen solid.

Coach Riley Wallace's squad committed 14 of its 19 turnovers and surrendered 20 of Stokes' game-high 29 points in the second half. Still, the Rainbows ended a three-game Shootout losing skid in the first game of their third trip to Anchorage's annual Thanksgiving basketball feast.

Hawaii, which lost all three of its Shootout games in 1993, will meet California in tonight's 7 p.m. (Hawaii time) tournament semifinal. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

"I was never unhappy about coming up here (again), even though we scored 49, 47 and 48 points the last time. Trust me, I remember," Wallace said. "But every time we've come here, at the end of the season we were still playing. We went to the NIT the first time (1989) and the NCAAs the second (1993).

"This tournament always prepares you because you're on the road, living in a hotel out of your bag and playing good competition. It just gets you ready."

Unlike their last outing -- a 44-point waxing of Oregon State at the Stan Sheriff Center on Sunday -- the Rainbows (3-1) needed to play a full 40 minutes to win their third game in a row.

"A game like this tells us where we're at and where we need to be," Nash said. "We knew Hofstra had some really good guards. I think (its) motto is "In guards we trust."

"We came out ready and prepared well."

Nash's outside shooting, Lojeski's all-around game and the inside toughness of Ahmet Gueye and Stephen Verwers allowed the Rainbows to control most of the first half. Hawaii scored the final six points of the half and opened the second period with the first five points.

Gueye's basket from the right side with 18:03 remaining gave the Rainbows a 44-33 lead.

"We have to execute from the beginning," said Stokes, Hofstra's silky-smooth 6-foot-3 sharpshooter. "We played sluggish in the first half and needed to catch up in the second."

Hofstra, the preseason pick to win the Colonial Athletic Association over last season's Final Four surprise George Mason, didn't wither. The Pride scored nine of the next 12 points to make things interesting.

Stokes canned a pair of 3-pointers to keep Hofstra around. His triple with 12:02 left cut Hawaii's lead to 47-44.

The Rainbows persevered and led 70-62 with 3:43 left before Hofstra poured it on.

Stokes and Pride sophomore Greg Johnson sparked a 7-0 run. Stokes tied the game 71-71 with a runner off the glass with 2 minutes remaining.

Lojeski quickly set up P.J. Owsley (10 points) underneath and Hawaii pumped in the next six points. Nash, Riley Luettgerodt and Lojeski scored the Rainbows' last five points from the free-throw line, including Lojeski's front-end finisher.

"I was very happy when that went in," said Wallace. "Every guy on the court (for Hofstra) was a 3-point shooter.

"If (Lojeski) doesn't make that free throw, we're probably going to overtime."

Instead, the Rainbows are headed to the Shootout semifinals.

Got gym?:

Hawaii officials scrambled to land practice time this afternoon at Anchorage's Dimond High School, the Rainbows' local host school. Hawaii practiced Tuesday at the school, which is about 8 miles from Sullivan Arena. ... Hawaii is now 3-4 in the Great Alaska Shootout.

Hawaii 70, Hofstra 69

RAINBOW WARRIORS (3-1, 1-0 GAS)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Nash	5	13	6	6	35	4	3	17
Gueye	5	12	2	3	30	4	0	12
Verwers	3	5	1	2	17	3	2	7
Gibson	2	5	4	4	22	5	4	9
Lojeski	6	12	5	6	39	7	4	17
Lowenthal	0	1	0	0	4	0	0	0
Wilder	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	0
Waters	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0
Luettgerodt	1	3	4	4	19	3	1	6
Owsley	4	7	2	4	22	6	1	10
Follmer	0	0	2	2	5	1	0	2
TEAM						5
Totals	26	58	26	31	200	38	17	80

PRIDE (0-3, 0-1 GAS)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Urbutis	2	3	0	0	21	3	0	4
Davis-Sabb	5	11	0	1	27	7	0	10
Stokes	10	19	5	10	38	4	2	29
Agudio	4	11	1	2	29	2	3	10
Rivera	3	9	4	5	33	3	5	11
Sestokas	2	3	0	0	16	3	0	5
Patricio	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Johnson	4	5	1	1	26	0	1	9
Leonavicius	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0
Gadley	0	2	1	2	7	1	0	1
TEAM						6
Totals	30	64	12	21	200	29	11	79

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 -- Hawaii 39, Hofstra 33

3-point goals -- Hawaii 2-9 (Gibson 1-3, Nash 1-4, Lojeski 0-2), Hofstra 7-15 (Stokes 4-5, Sestokas 1-2, Rivera 1-3, Agudio 1-4, Leonavicius 0-1). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 19, Hofstra 27.

Steals -- Hawaii 2 (Gibson 2), Hofstra 11 (Rivera 3, Johnson 3, Agudio 2, Stokes 2, Gadley). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 6 (Verwers 3, Gueye, Nash, Owsley), Hofstra 4 (Urbutis 2, Rivera 2). Turnovers -- Hawaii 19 (Nash 4, Gibson 4, Luettgerodt 3, Gueye 2, Owsley 2, Follmer, Wilder, Lowenthal, Verwers), Hofstra 14 (Rivera 5, Stokes 4, Davis-Sabb 2, Agudio, Gadley, Sestokas).

Officials -- Rick Batsell, Martin Cota, Gabby Lujan. A -- 5,402.