Box Score
HONOLULU - The University of Hawaii men's basketball team got more than it could handle from Louisiana-Lafayette, falling to the Ragin' Cajuns, 61-59, on the opening evening of the 44th Annual Outrigger Rainbow Classic. It was UH's first opening-round loss in the Classic in 12 years.
The last time UH failed to advance to the championship bracket was in 1995 when they lost to Rhode Island, 89-74. The 'Bows went on to finish in eight place in that tournament.
UH (3-5) will now face St. John's in the consolation bracket on Friday, Dec. 21. Tipoff is at 11:00 am. Meanwhile, Louisiana-Lafayette (3-6) advanced to the Classic semifinals where they will face Ohio, a 71-69 winner over the Red Storm on Leon Williams' layup with less than a second left. Those two team will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
The Bows led for much of the game, but could never quite pull away. They would pay for that dearly in the second half when Louisiana-Lafayette scored 11 straight points to pull away for good.
Randell Daigle led the Ragin Cajuns with 13 points, while La'Ryan Gary added 10 points, including the game-winning free throws with five seconds remaining. Louisiana-Lafayette won despite top scorer Elijah Milsap missing all 11 shots from the field.
Three 'Bows finished in double-digit scoring led by Matt Gibson and Riley Luettgerodt with 15 points a piece. Bobby Nash added 10 points in the loss.
Louisiana-Lafayette missed its first 11 shots from the floor and shot just 26 percent in the first half. Still UH led by just two points, 24-22, at the break. UH held a seven-point lead with eight minutes remaining, but that's when UL made its move, going on an 11-0 run to take a 53-49 lead.
UH tied the score, 56-56, on a Luettgerodt free throw with 90 seconds lead. But UH turned the ball over on successive possessions in the final minute to seal its fate.
The Rainbow Classic continues Thursday evening with a pair of first round games. Tulane faces St. Mary's at 5 p.m., while East Tennessee State takes on Georgia at 7:30 p.m.
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