Cal State Northridge’s shortest player made for a long senior night for the University of Hawaii.
Five-foot-8 Terrell Gomez scored 32 points, tying a career high, in driving the Matadors to an 84-73 victory on Saturday night.
A crowd of 5,065, the largest for a basketball game in the Stan Sheriff Center this year, saw the Rainbow Warriors score 12 unanswered points to take a 52-46 lead with 12:32 to play.
But the Matadors, led by Gomez and 6-7 forward Lamine Diane, used an all-points attack to pick apart the ’Bows’ switching man-to-man defense.
It was 60-all when the Matadors turned to Gomez.
“He’s a big guy for us,” CSUN wing Rodney “Rocket” Henderson said. “He’s short, but he has a big heart.”
Gomez scored 16 of the Matadors’ next 18 points to seize the momentum.
“I tried to play aggressive,” said Gomez, who buried shots from different angles and over aggressive obstacles.
On one play, Diane lost control of the ball in the low post. The bouncing ball found its way to Gomez, who launched a 3 over the outstretched arms of 6-3 Drew Buggs.
Gomez scored 18 points after intermission, finishing 11-for-21 from the field, including 5-for-10 on 3-pointers.
“I try to come out every game and play my hardest, and show my height doesn’t matter,” Gomez said. “I think it was good for us to play in front of a hostile crowd. It gets us ready for the conference (tournament).”
Jack Purchase led the ’Bows with 20 points, but he was held scoreless in the second half.
The ’Bows also missed nine of 20 free throws.
“This definitely was a tough one,” said Eddie Stansberry, a UH junior guard. “We wanted to win for the seniors. We wanted to give our all. We didn’t want to go down like that. But we did, and we have to accept it.”
After the game, the ’Bows honored three seniors — Purchase, Brocke Stepteau and Sheriff Drammeh.
“The celebration like this is much bigger,” Stansberry said. “You have to appreciate the seniors. They rode with us all year. We love them and appreciate them.”
The ’Bows received a gritty performance from Buggs, whose availability was listed as “day to day” after he suffered an ankle injury against Cal Poly a week earlier. Buggs was in a medical boot and on crutches earlier in the week. But under the guidance of athletic trainer Jayson Goo, Buggs recovered enough to make his 28th start of the season. Buggs had 11 points and eight assists.
In the first half, Hawaii also received expected outside shooting and unexpected defense from Purchase. UH’s career leader in 3s drained six of eight shots from behind the 3-point arc — two from way beyond — in amassing 20 of the ’Bows’ 34 first-half points. His teammates combined to miss all seven of their 3-point attempts.
Purchase also helped defend Diane, who entered averaging 24.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Diane was everywhere UH did not want him to be in the first half. Diane hit seven of 10 first-half shots — at different volumes. He had three loud dunks, including a steal that he parlayed into a 360-degree windmill jam. He also helped the Matadors control the glass. The Matadors built a 21-15 rebounding advantage in the first 20 minutes. Hawaii went more than 15 minutes before securing its first offensive rebound.
But Diane was limited to nine minutes in the first half after picking up his second foul with 13:55 left and third with 6:06 remaining. Diane had 14 points and three rebounds in the first half. Still, Diane came back in the second half and finished with 25 points and seven rebounds for the game.
