Gytis Nemeiksa scored 19 points and reserve Tom Beattie contributed 15 to lead the Hawaii basketball team to tonight’s 68-55 victory over Cal Poly in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 3,328 saw the Rainbow Warriors earn their first Big West victory of the season. In defeating the Mustangs for the ninth time in a row, the ’Bows improved to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big West. The Mustangs fell to 6-10 and 0-4.

The ’Bows were bracing for the blur of the nation’s fastest offense (13.9 seconds per possession).

But the Mustangs were running on empty in the first half, falling behind 27-22 at the intermission.

The ’Bows scored 15 of the first 17 points of the second half to essentially end the suspense.

The Mustangs were well below their average of 84.3 points and 10.39 made 3-pointers per game. They hit 22 of 65 shots, including seven of 31 on 3-point attempts.

The ’Bows received a scoring boost from Beattie in the first half. Beattie, a co-captain, scored in double figures in the first four games. But he did not score more than nine points in the next nine games. But guarded by Jessup, Beattie buried four of his five first-half shots. Beattie finished 6-for-9.