LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i men’s hoops team used a strong second half and took advantage of its undermanned and undersized opponent, Wednesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The Warriors came away with a 70-63 win
LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i men’s hoops team used a strong second half and took advantage of its undermanned and undersized opponent, Wednesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
The Warriors came away with a 70-63 win over the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, improving to 5-0 on the season with all five games having been played on their home court.
Center Vander Joaquim did the dirty work on the glass, a role that had been occupied for the first four games by the team’s leading rebounder, Bill Amis. A stress fracture in his right foot has shelved the senior power forward, who was also leading the team in scoring through four games, for at least a month.
In his absence, Joaquim pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds as the Warriors finished the night with a 37-25 advantage on the boards.
Joston Thomas and Zane Johnson each scored 16 for UH, while Hiram Thompson added 15.
Bo Barnes, who head coach Gib Arnold stated would see extra minutes after the injury to Amis, knocked down three 3-pointers for his nine points. Johnson also hit three triples for the Warriors, who nailed seven as a team.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-5) played just seven players as guard Savalance Townsend put in a game-high 25 points on 8 of 14 shooting, including 3-for-4 from downtown.
Gavin Montgomery had 16 points and five steals, while Terrell Kennedy had 11 points and six rebounds.
The Warriors attacked the rim and got themselves the foul line with much greater frequency, shooting 34 attempts to the Golden Lions’ 15.
UH went to the locker room trailing 32-29 at halftime, but rallied to pull away late and remain unbeaten.
After taking a nine-point lead in the first half, Arkansas-Pine Bluff went cold in the second half, shooting just over 34 percent (11 of 32) from the field and 3 of 12 from three-point range.
Hawai‘i capitalized early in the second, pulling ahead by 12 at the 9:06 mark and holding on from there.
The 5-0 record gives the Warriors their best start to a season since 2004.
The team will now have to leave the friendly confines of the SSC for a pair of road games, the first on Dec. 1 against the Cal Poly Mustangs (2-2). It will then head a bit further east to take on BYU (4-0) on Dec. 4 before returning home for a Dec. 12 date with Hawai‘i Pacific University.
