Dons deny 'Bows
POSTED: Saturday, November 15, 2008
New Hawaii team, strikingly similar result.
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For the second straight year, the Rainbow Warriors dropped a tight game in their season opener to a West Coast Conference opponent. as San Francisco pulled out a 75-70 win before a crowd of 4,414 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The 'Bows had a final chance to send the game into overtime when the Dons, leading 73-70, threw away the ball on an inbounds pass with 13.5 seconds left. Hawaii quickly got the ball to touted forward Roderick Flemings, who had an open 3-point attempt from about 24 feet, but the ball hit the front iron. USF's Blake Wallace then coolly hit two foul shots to put the game away.
“;It shouldn't have came down to that last shot,”; Flemings said with a sigh.
The Rainbow Warriors (0-1) couldn't get stops when they needed them, particularly against San Francisco's Blake Wallace (21 points, 4-for-7 on 3-pointers) and All-West Coast Conference forward Dior Lowhorn (16 points, 13 in second half).
To make things worse, Hawaii went on a field-goal drought from 5:16 until a Kareem Nitoto layup with 29 seconds left.
Petras Balocka scored 18, Nitoto and Lasha Parghalava added 14 apiece, Flemings chipped in 13 and Bill Amis put in 11 for UH. But it wasn't enough against the Dons' total effort.
In Rex Walters' USF coaching debut, the Dons outscored their opponent 38-28 in the paint, 17-11 on second-chance points and had a key 18-0 scoring advantage from bench players.
“;We persevered, we stuck with it,”; Walters said. “;We were very patient offensively and spread it around. Obviously, it starts with the combination of (point guard) Manny (Quezada) and Dior, but its great to see other guys step up.”;
Hawaii lost to San Diego in coach Bob Nash's coaching debut last year.
Two corner 3-pointers from Wallace within 15 seconds put the Dons up 52-47 with 10:43 to play, and Hawaii wouldn't recover. USF shot 51 percent from the field to Hawaii's 42.6 percent.
“;You gotta give credit to San Francisco. They had go-to guys that delivered at the end when they needed baskets,”; Nash said. “;They did a very good job.
“;Tonight is not typical of the way we will play,”; he said. “;They got out into those lanes and didn't let us get into a smooth-running offense.”;
Full-court pressure from USF often slowed Hawaii's flex-motion offense and ball movement dried up often in the second half. The Rainbows notched just eight assists against 18 turnovers, and no player had more than two helpers.
The crowd was anxious to see the debut of Flemings, but he sat down early when he picked up his second foul with 17:35 left in the first half. Lowhorn followed suit soon after with his second offensive foul with 15:54 to go, but while Lowhorn returned to post an efficient shooting night (7-for-12), Flemings couldn't find a rhythm, shooting 3-for-11.
“;It's hard getting in there missing a whole week, getting back and playing the game,”; he said.
Hawaii hit just seven of 12 shots in the first half, but a 14-for-19 performance at the foul line was enough to carry the Rainbows to a 30-29 lead at the break.
Backup point guard Hiram Thompson slipped and appeared to tweak his pulled hamstring midway through the first half. He didn't return, leaving UH without one of its playmakers. Flemings was also playing on a partially healed sprained ankle.
“;We can make excuses all we want, but we have to come together now,”; said Amis, the team's only returning starter. “;We have to have heart this next game (against Cal State Fullerton tomorrow).”;
Parghalava scored the final nine UH points of the first half, in which the 'Bows never trailed.
But Quezada put in a layup to start the second half and the Dons didn't blink when UH went ahead 40-36. The teams swapped the lead, and the Rainbows led for the last time at 47-46 on a Flemings drive.
The Rainbows jumped out to an 8-1 lead behind a layin and corner 3-pointer from newcomer forward Petras Balocka.
San Francisco 75, Hawaii 70
Dons (1-0)
| fg-a | ft-a | rb | pf | pts | a | to | min |
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| Wallace | 7-12 | 3-4 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 36 |
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| Lowhorn | 7-12 | 2-4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
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| O'Brien | 1-3 | 3-4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 22 |
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| Quezada | 1-3 | 4-4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 21 |
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| Bryant | 3-8 | 3-3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 29 |
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| Taylor | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
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| Vaughn | 3-6 | 4-6 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 24 |
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| Smith | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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| Hernandez | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
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| Morgan | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
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| Caloiaro | 1-3 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
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| TEAM | 6 | ||||||||
| Totals | 26-51 | 19-26 | 29 | 27 | 75 | 13 | 18 | 200 |
Rainbow Warriors (0-1)
| fg-a | ft-a | rb | pf | pts | a | to | min |
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| Balocka | 5-9 | 6-8 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 24 |
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| Flemings | 3-11 | 7-9 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 30 |
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| Amis | 4-8 | 3-6 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 31 |
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| Nitoto | 4-6 | 6-8 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 36 |
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| Parghalava | 4-10 | 4-4 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 36 |
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| Thompson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
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| Lutu | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
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| Campbell | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
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| Mayen | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
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| Adams | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
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| TEAM | 5 |
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| Totals | 20-47 | 26-35 | 27 | 21 | 70 | 8 | 18 | 200 |
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Key—fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fould; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime—Hawaii 30, San Francisco 29
3-point goals—San Francisco 4-19 (Wallace 4-7, Bryant 0-4, Lowhorn 0-2, Vaughn 0-2, Caloiaro 0-2, O'Brien 0-1, Quezada 0-1), Hawaii 4-13 (Parghalava 2-6, Balocka 2-3, Lutu 0-2, Nitoto 00-1, Flemings 0-1).
Steals—San Francisco 7 (Bryant 2, Wallace, Lowhorn, O'Brien, Taylor, Morgan), Hawaii 7 (Parghalava 2, Flemings 2, Balocka, Amis, Nitoto). Blocked shots—San Francisco 6 (Wallace 2, Lowhorn, O'Brien, Hernandez, Caloiaro), Hawaii none.
Officials—Duane Allen, Frank Harvey III, Ryan Wells. Attendance—4,414.
