Box Score

RUSTON, La. – The University of Hawai`i men's basketball team gave another gritty road effort, but it wasn't enough in a 66-60 loss to Louisiana Tech Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center. The Rainbow Warriors dropped to 9-15 overall and 2-9 in the Western Athletic Conference with their sixth straight loss.

 

It was an almost identical final score of the meeting in Honolulu last month, won by the Bulldogs, 65-60. And it was another battle down to the wire. An undermanned UH squad trailed for the majority of the game, but never let the game get away. The 'Bows trailed by just two points with less than two minutes left and had a chance to tie the game or take the lead, but committed an offensive foul and turned the ball over on successive possessions. The Bulldogs (20-5, 9-3 WAC) sealed the game on the free throw line where they scored their final nine points.

 

Hiram Thompson scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second half to help UH nearly erase a double-digit deficit. Roderick Flemings tallied 13 points and nine rebounds, while Brandon Adams added 12 points and six rebounds.

 

Kyle Gibson led four Bulldogs in double-digits. UH held Gibson, the third-leading scorer in the WAC, to just 2-of-13 shooting, but the senior guard buried nine free throws, including six down the stretch.  

 

UH, meanwhile, shot just 12-of-24 from the line and gave up 19 offensive rebounds to the Bulldogs, the top rebounding team in the league. The Bulldogs out-scored UH, 16-5, on second chance points.

 

Still the 'Bows stayed within striking distance for much of the game. UH fell behind by 10 points on three occasions in the first half and trailed by just six, 33-27, at the break. The Bulldogs built a second-half lead that grew as many as 11 points with less than 15 minutes left in the game. The 'Bows wouldn't fold and cut the deficit to as little as two points on a pair of occasions, including an Adhar Mayen jumper with 2:37 that made it 55-53. But that would be as close as they would get.

 

UH now travels to Las Cruces, N.M. for a meeting with New Mexico State on Monday, Feb. 15. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. MT (4:00 HT) and the game will be broadcast live on KFVE-TV.