Box Score

FRESNO, Calif. - For the second consecutive game, the Hawai'i men's basketball team could not overcome a poor shooting first half, in its 69-60 loss to Fresno State, Saturday night, at the Save Mart Center. The Rainbow Warriors ended the regular season with a 19-10 overall record and 11-7 mark in the Western Athletic Conference.

Earlier in the day, the 'Bows learned they would receive the No. 5 seed in next week's McCaffrey WAC Tournament. UH opens the tourney against fourth-seeded Rice, Thursday, March 11, at 2:30 p.m.

The 'Bows shot just 31 percent in the first half as the Bulldogs (14-14, 10-8) took a 38-26 lead into the locker room. Leading scorer Michael Kuebler was held to 3-of-16 shooting and nine points. In addition, the WAC's 3-point leader was 1-of-10 from long range.

Sophomore Julian Sensley scored a team-high 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field. The forward grabbed seven rebounds and recorded two blocks and four steals against his former school, for which he attended for one semester.

The duo of guard Shantay Legans and center Mustafa Al-Sayyad combined to score 49 of Fresno State's 69 points and shot 15-of-23 from the field. Legans had 25 points with five 3-pointers while Al-Sayyad added a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. In two games against the 'Bows, Al-Sayyad averaged 18.5 points and 13 rebounds.

The Bulldogs opened with a 7-2 run to start the game. FS pushed its lead into double-figures with back-to-back 3-pointers by Legans and Dreike Bouldin to take 25-14 lead. The Bulldogs led by as many as 16 (34-18) with 3:16 to play before the 'Bows closed to 38-26 at the half.

Legans scored 14 in the opening period while Al-Sayyad added eight. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent compared to UH's 31.0 percent, including 0-for-9 from 3-point range.

UH stormed out of the second half, scoring the first five points to close to 38-31. Sensley then got hot, scoring seven straight to pull UH to within 42-38. After the Bulldogs stretched their lead back to 10, the 'Bows scored seven straight to cut the deficit to 52-49 midway through the half.

The teams traded baskets until the seven minute mark when Phil Martin was called for a controversial offensive goal-tending violation, which would have pulled UH to within one. From that point on, Al-Sayyad went to work and scored FS's next nine points during a four-minute stretch to give the Bulldogs a 65-57 lead with 2:25 remaining.

UH was held without a basket until Kuebler's only 3-pointer of the game with 28.9 seconds left. For the game, UH shot 38.3 percent but committed a season-low six turnovers.

The 'Bows remain in Fresno, Calif., for next week's WAC Tournament.



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