Tanner Christensen’s three-point play with three seconds left gave the University of Hawaii at Manoa a 64-61 exhibition victory over host Hawaii Hilo at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium on Friday.
Christensen’s 13 points also included a dunk with three seconds left before halftime to give the Rainbow Warriors a 34-32 lead, their first of the game, at the break. Christensen, a 6-foot-10 transfer from Utah Tech, also had a game-high 10 rebounds for Manoa, which beat Hilo on the glass 36-23.
The final go-ahead basket came on a feed from Tom Beattie, who led Manoa with six assists and scored 12 points. Christensen was fouled on the play and made a free throw for the final point.
Beattie hit two free throws with 47 seconds left to tie the score at 61-all.
The Division I Rainbows trailed the Division II Vulcans for most of the game after Hilo scored the first five points. The Vulcans also led 7-1 and 14-7, and forced the Warriors into 24 turnovers with pressure defense.
“Give them full credit, they came out firing. One helluva team,” Beattie said. “They put pressure on us from the jump. It’s always tough playing from behind, but we trusted our principles, and got some good play-calling from the coaches late in the game.”
Manoa’s Gytis Nemeiksa was game-high with 14 points.
Nadjrick Peat led Hilo with 12 points, and Andre Norris led the Vulcans’ ball-hawking defense with six steals.
“The best parts of our game were finishing the first half and finishing the game. The rest of it was all Hilo,” said Rainbows coach Eran Ganot, who is tasked with replacing the top six scorers from last year’s team, including the top three ball-handlers. “We got hit in the mouth and we were on our back heels and they smelled blood. We didn’t help each other out, which is unusual for us, but I’m glad about the way we kept our poise and finished. It wasn’t just their press, but that they can play big and small, and that is something we have to learn how to deal with.”
Hilo’s Jake Kosakowski scored his only points on a 3-pointer 22 seconds into the game, and Manoa trailed until Beattie hit a jumper to tie it at 24-all with 5:48 left in the first half.
The Vulcans start a three-game road trip to British Columbia with a game at Simon Fraser on Friday.
The Rainbows next play another exhibition Nov. 2, against Chaminade on Maui.
Today, both schools’ men’s and women’s teams hold youth clinics at Pana’ewa Park Gym.
The Rainbow Wahine play the Hawaii Hilo women in an exhibition Sunday at 2 p.m. at Afook-Chinen.
