After staggering early, Hawaii found its stride to catch and pass Pacific on the way to a 73-61 win to close the Outrigger Rainbow Classic.
The Rainbow Warriors went down 17-9 in a cold shooting start, but surged past the Tigers to take a six-point lead into halftime and pulled away in the second half before a crowd of 1,398 on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Guard Noel Coleman sparked the Rainbow Warriors with a career-high 21 points and forward Bernardo da Silva put together a perfect shooting night to finish with 16 points and nine rebounds as Hawaii (2-1) placed second in its season-opening tournament.
“We knew this would be a very physical game, but more than anything I’m really happy for the guys,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “They’re working through a lot of things right now. Different guys have stepped up, some guys will step up as the season goes along. We were down 17-9 and didn’t have much flow and they just hung there with defense and eventually things opened up for us offensively.”
After pulling away from Hawaii Hilo on Wednesday and having a spirited rally fall short against Northern Colorado on Thursday, the Rainbow Warriors were in comeback mode through 11 minutes on Saturday.
A sequence that amounted to a five-point play triggered a 13-0 UH run. Coleman hit back-to-back 3-pointers during the surge to give UH a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way. The sophomore finished 3-for-11 from long range but helped keep UH within striking distance early and helped the ’Bows build on the lead with drives to the basket.
“He was being very aggressive and that’s what we need him to do,” da Silva said. “He definitely helped us a lot getting to the paint and making the right plays.”
Da Silva complemented Coleman inside in hitting all five of his field-goal attempts and going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed nine rebounds.
“I work on these shots every day, so it’s just having confidence and my teammates having confidence giving me the ball,” said da Silva, who joined Coleman on the all-tournament team.
Sophomore Amaro Lado drained two 3-pointers in a second-half burst that helped UH take command and finished with 10 points off the bench.
“Really it was on the defensive side that got me going,” Lado said “Just playing defense with my teammates trying to get stops, and we were able to push in transition and it led to open shots.”
Hawaii struggled from the field early on but outscored UOP 24-10 over the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 33-27 lead into the break.
After Pacific opened up a 17-9 lead, Kamaka Hepa hit a 3-pointer from the right corner as a foul under the basket was whistled against the Tigers. Da Silva made both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it a five-point swing for the ’Bows.
“I think it was good getting some momentum. It gave us confidence to take our shots and also play better defense,” da Silva said.
The ’Bows opened up a 33-25 lead on Coleman’s reverse layup. He went into halftime with 12 points.
UH maintained a lead in the second half and Lado drained two 3-pointers from the right wing to give the ’Bows an 11-point lead with seven minutes left. UH led by as many as 16 in closing out the win.
Pacific forward Jeremiah Bailey and guard Nick Blake led the Tigers (1-2) with 16 points each.
UH will have an 11-day break between games before facing Illinois-Chicago on Thanksgiving Day in the two-day Las Vegas Classic.
Hawaii Hilo 87, Northern Colorado 79, OT
The Division II Vulcans erased a four-point deficit in the final two seconds of regulation and outscored the Bears 12-4 in overtime to pull off the upset.
Northern Colorado (2-1) took a 75-71 lead on two free throws by Matt Johnson with three seconds left in regulation. UH Hilo threw a long pass downcourt and Max Kunnert drew a foul while flinging up a 3-point attempt. Kunnert made his first two free throws and the third came off the right side of the rim. Erik Borg grabbed the offensive rebound and tossed in a shot with 0.2 seconds left to force overtime.
Kunnert drained a 3-pointer to give the Vulcans an 80-77 lead with 3:29 left. They pulled away as UNC went 1-for-8 from the field in overtime.
Donald McHenry led four Vulcans in double figures with 19 points. Darren Williams finished with 18. Daylen Kountz led Northern Colorado with 20 points.
Despite the loss, the Bears (2-1) took home the Rainbow Classic title by virtue of their wins over Pacific and Hawaii earlier in the tournament. UH Hilo (2-0) finished 1-2 in the tournament. The Vulcans’ losses to UH and UOP were considered exhibitions.
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Outrigger Rainbow Classic All-Tournament team
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Hawaii Hilo
Bodie Hume, Northern Colorado
Jeremiah Bailey, Pacific
Noel Coleman, Hawaii
Bernardo da Silva, Hawaii
Most Outstanding Player: Daylen Kountz, Northern Colorado
