Box Score

HONOLULU - The Hawai'i men's basketball team rallied for a thrilling 50-49 overtime victory over Fairfield for the championship of the 40th Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic, Tuesday night, at the Stan Sheriff Center. Sophomore Julian Sensley's 3-pointer from the left wing with 9.2 seconds in overtime was the game-winner.

The Rainbow Warriors (8-2) captured its third consecutive Rainbow Classic crown despite shooting just 28.8 percent from the field. The 'Bows sent the game into overtime on Phil Martin's rebound and putback off a Michael Kuebler miss with 8.0 seconds remaining in regulation.

Kuebler scored a game-high 22 points to earn tournament Most Valuable Player honors. In the three games, he recorded a tourney high 76 points. Sensley posted his third double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Both played the entire 45 minutes.

In overtime, Hawai'i trailed by five with 3:13 left. A 3-pointer by Kuebler cut the deficit to two but the Stags responded with a Deng Gai bucket. Kuebler drained another jumper to pull UH to within 49-47 with 2:20 on the clock. With just over a minute to play, Sensley missed an open 3-pointer but the Stags failed to score giving UH the ball back with :34 remaining.

UH struggled out of the blocks, missing its first 12 shots from the field. At the break, the team scored a tournament-low 13 points in the first half on 4-of-25 shooting. Fairfield used an 11-2 run over the final 3:55 to take a 21-13 lead at intermission.

The 'Bows rallied in the second half. A Sensley three-point play closed the deficit to 29-27 with 11:31 remaining. Following a Fairfield miss, Kuebler drove the lane for a pull-up jumper to cap an 8-0 run. After a Stag bucket, Kuebler drained a 3-pointer to give UH its first lead at 32-31 with 9:57 left.

In addition to Kuebler, Martin and Gai, the rest of the all-tournament team included, Pepperdine's Alex Acker, East Tennessee State's Jerald Fields, and IUPUI's Akeem Clark.

Next year's field was announced and headlining the field are past tournament winners USC and Clemson. In addition, LSU, Georgetown, UAB, Indiana State, Long Beach State, and host Hawaii make up the rest of the field. The 41st edition will be played Dec. 21-24, 2004 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH opens Western Athletic Conference play, Saturday, when it hosts rival Fresno State at the Stan Sheriff Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.

Third Place Game
IUPUI def. Pepperdine, 76-72
Terrance Johnson's bucket with 32 seconds remaining lifted IUPUI over Pepperdine, 76-72, in the third place game. Dannorris Harvey converted two free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory.

Akeem Clark and Brandon Cole each had 18 points to pace the Jaguars (7-4). As a team, IUPUI connected on 12 3-pointers, including five by Clark.

After falling behind by 11 midway through the first half, the Waves answered with a 16-5 run to tie the game at 30. In the second half, the Jaguars pushed its lead into double digits again but a 17-6 Pepperdine run closed the deficit to one with 7:37 remaining.

The Waves (5-8) were paced by Terrence Johnson's 26 points and six 3-pointers. Alex Acker added 20 points and seven assists.

Fifth Place Game
American def. ETSU, 71-66
The Eagles held off a furious rally by ETSU, to capture the consolation championship, 71-66. ETSU, who trailed by as many as 20 in the second half, cut the deficit to 66-61 with 1:24 remaining.

American's Linas Lekavicius came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points, including 17 in the first half. The guard finished with six of the team's 11 3-pointers. Jernavis Draughn recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds.

American (5-6) connected on 11-of-17 from 3-point range and out-rebounded ETSU, 45-31. The Eagles led 40-25 at the half.

Tim Smith had a team-high 15 points for the Buccaneers (8-4).

Seventh Place Game
Bowling Green def. Lamar, 81-68
John Reimold scored a game-high 30 points in Bowling Green's 81-68 victory over Lamar in the seventh place game. The Falcons used a 10-0 run during a four-minute stretch of the second half to seal the victory.

Reimold connected on seven 3-pointers and grabbed seven rebounds. Ron Lewis scored 16 of his 22 points after intermission. As a team, BGSU shot 57.7 percent in the half. Teddy Davis scored a team-high 21 points for the Cardinals, who dropped all three games in the tournament.



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