Rainbow Warriors remain perfect in Big West with win in Bakersfield
Jan. 21—This time, it was the wily road team that prevailed against the Roadrunners.
The University of Hawaii men's basketball team withstood Cal State Bakersfield's inside attack and late surge for a 63-59 road victory before 788 in the Incardo Center.
The Rainbow Warriors improved to 3-0 in the Big West—last week's win over UC San Diego does not count toward the standings because the Tritons are in the second year of a four-year transition to Division I—and 8-5 overall. The'Bows head to San Luis Obispo, Calif., today ahead of Saturday's game against Cal Poly.
The Roadrunners fell to 1-3 and 6-7 after playing in their third game in six nights following a 15-day hiatus because of safety-health protocols.
"The guys battled, " UH coach Eran Ganot said. "I'm really proud of them. That's not an easy task against a really good team. (The Roadrunners have ) always been very physical. They play a lot of guys. They rebound the heck out of the ball. They just keep coming after you. We had to weather some ups and downs like you normally do against good teams, especially on the road."
The Roadrunners entered averaging 36.9 rebounds per game, including 12.2 off the offensive glass. But the'Bows produced a 32-28 rebounding advantage, holding CSUB to six offensive boards.
Down 61-58, CSUB point guard Kaleb Higgins was fouled with 3.4 seconds to play. Higgins hit the first free throw and, after a timeout, missed the second. UH guard Junior Madut secured the ball, then was fouled with 2.2 seconds left. Madut hit both free throws to end the drama.
Madut finished with 17 points. Jerome Desrosiers' streak of double-doubles ended at three games, but the Princeton transfer came up with 16 points, including two free throws to extend UH's lead to 61-58 with six seconds left, and six rebounds. Guard Noel Coleman was held to 10 points—all in the second and none on 3-point shots—but played aggressive defense and opened the lanes for his teammates. The'Bows, who entered averaging 9.7 3-point shots per game, were 5-for-17 from behind the arc, including 1-for-3 after the intermission.
"We're a good 3-point shooting team, "Ganot said. "It didn't go for us in the first half. What a great testament to their maturity we found other ways to get the job done. ...We only took three 3-point shots in the second half. Teams are taking us off the 3, but we're spreading out and able to get to the rim, get to the (free-throw ) line. I'm pleased with our maturity. We're not a one-dimensional team."
Justin McCall hit eight of 13 shots and finished with a game-high 22 points. But the Roadrunners managed only three 3-pointers. Shawn Stith, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound post, was 3-for-6 from the floor and gathered only two rebounds. He could not convert on a fadeaway jumper that would have given CSUB the lead with eight seconds remaining.
"I'm pleased with the maturity, " Ganot said. "The guys started off the game really well. They set the tone to start the second half (with three unanswered baskets ). ... We knew it was going to be tough, but you've got to win tough games on the road. The big factors are we won the boards and we only turned it over 10 times. That gave us our biggest chance."
