Lasha Parghalava found it hard to concentrate. Here was an opponent he couldn't read, touch, intimidate or defeat.

Parghalava knew he needed to complete his final exams at Pensacola (Fla.) Junior College to qualify for his commitment as a guard for the University of Hawaii men's basketball team. But his mind kept straying to thoughts of family and friends halfway around the world, where conflict escalated in his native country, the Republic of Georgia.

While the rest of the world's eyes were trained on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in August, Russian and Georgian forces clashed over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia, and soon fought in the heartland of Georgia itself.

“;I was in a restaurant, just finished eating,”; Parghalava said. “;You know how the restaurants have the little TVs? I was watching and they were talking about Georgia, blah blah blah, and I was like 'Wow, it's my country.' And then, I call my parents and that's how I find out, then it gets harder and harder to communicate with my parents. The lights were out. They was bombing Georgia, and it was a real tough situation for me.”;

His parents, Temuri and Marina, live in the capital of Tbilisi, which went mostly untouched. Fighting has since subsided in the region with Russia's withdrawal.

“;I was really worried about my dad, because he used to be in the military,”; Parghalava said. “;I heard he tried, he was like, 'I don't care how old I am,' we were at war, people were dying and my dad was at home watching the news and he felt bad. I'm glad he didn't go 'cause he's 60 years old. All of my friends back home, they were going to go fight for country. It was hard, but I talked to my mom and she told me to stay here and be safe. Maybe things would be OK.”;

His Pensacola teammate, Petras Balocka, came on the same visit to UH over the summer and the two friends committed to the Rainbow Warriors on the same day. Things became complicated soon after the two arrived back in Florida near the end of the term.

“;He knew he had to finish up his school,”; said Balocka, a forward from Lithuania. “;I don't want to say (school) was more important at the time, I know it bothered him a lot. I know it was tough for him, but I talked to him on the phone every single day to make sure he's OK and Coach (Jackson) Wheeler called him quite a few times to make sure the guy's OK.”;

The road to Hawaii was not an easy one for Lasha (pronounced Sasha), but he made it—and the hardships he's endured have translated into a bruising, physical style of play at the guard position.

Though the Rainbow Warriors have had only a few official practices so far, it's a rare day when the junior doesn't cause himself some kind of bodily harm with his in-your-face style of on-ball defense.

That brand of ball earned him honorable mention honors last year in the Panhandle Conference as he averaged 11.1 points and 2.9 assists for the Pensacola Pirates with 110 3-pointers made over two years.

Head coach Bob Nash sees the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Parghalava as a combo-guard—more of a natural shooting guard, but able to fill in at the point or even at small forward with his physicality allowing him to guard bigger opponents. With no starting guards returning for Hawaii, he's right in the mix for heavy playing time.

“;He just continues to work his butt off, doesn't give the offense an inch,”; Nash said. “;By the same token when he's on offense he's aggressive, knocks down the long-range ball, dribbles, gets in, good decisions with the basketball. He's just gotta continue to find his way within our offense. I think he has a lot of natural ability, but you've gotta be able to use that ability within the structure of our offense.”;

The Georgian fully embraces his style of play, borne from his experiences as a youth in the former Soviet state and his time in the Florida Air Academy military school before going to JC. The uniforms, haircuts, and early rises were initially a shock to Parghalava—then a 17-year-old with little command of English—when he arrived in the U.S. with the help and encouragement of his mom and his coach in Georgia, Vazha Kvarackelia.

“;It was really tough, so I was always ready mentally to play in college. I'll always play hard, even practices. I'm kind of like dirty defender, but it's just my style. I can do whatever.”;

Parghalava's thoughts strayed home again when he considered his basketball roots.

“;That's kind of like how I grew up, you know. That's my background. Even my home situation, it's kind of tough. I'm tough on myself and have kind of a tough attitude.

“;I don't like losing. I don't like when somebody's better than me, so I'm going to do everything to win,”; Parghalava added matter-of-factly.