Bol Dengdit (24) makes this layup over UTA’s Miles Goodman (5)! Dengdit went for 15 points and 5 rebounds in 29 minutes played.
The inside game mattered!
After squandering a double-digit lead, the University of Hawaiʻi Men’s Basketball team rebounded with a strong second half inside game to turn back the University of Texas at Arlington Mavericks, 71-62, on Sunday to advance to the championship game in the 60th annual OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic!
The now 3-0 Rainbow Warriors will face off against the Portland Pilots on Monday at 7 pm HST to win three consecutive Rainbow Classics! A win would mean the program’s 18th overall.
Zack Davidson led a group of four double-digit scoring ‘Bows with 21! Bol Dengdit also came up big with 15, and Chance Trujillo and Jaden Matingou each chipped in 12.
Zack Davidson makes this layup in the second half over UTA’s Mier Panoam (23)!
Tristan Hankins led the Mavericks with 23 points and five rebounds. He accounted for five of UTA’s eight total triples. The next closest was Mier Panoam with 10 points.
UH got out to a firing start and took an early 11-2 lead from UTA! They extended their lead to 19-6 off a Marcus Adams triple with 8:35 to go while UTA did not make a field goal for almost 10 minutes.
Marcus Adams Jr. (8) makes this triple in the first half to give UH a 19-6 lead! Adams went for 3 pts. and 8 rebounds in the win!
Panoam ended their drought with a layup with 7:36 to go, and that began a 10-0 UTA run while UH kept shooting and missing 3-pointers for four minutes. UTA briefly took the lead, but UH woke up in time and went into halftime tied with UTA, 27-27!
UTA continued to shaft UH with its inside game and took a 38-34 lead four minutes into the second half.
UH responded with a Trujillo jumper with 14:15 to go to tie the score at 40-40. Despite UTA spurting ahead again, UH tied again, 45-45; Davidson, who had just two after the first half, contributed 10 points in a critical 17-3 run and turned a 4-point gap into a 58-48 lead following a Matingou 3-point play!
Chance Trujillo made this jumper here to kickstart UH’s spirited inside game to turn back UT-Arlington! Trujillo chipped in 12 in the win and was 2-for-7 from long range!
UH never trailed again, but UTA had one last push in them and cut the gap to six, 64-58, with 1:23 to go; however, UH was solid at the free throw line and went 7-for-8 to keep UTA back.
Earlier in the day, Portland easily handled Bethesda, 130-56!
