Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The University of Hawai`i men's basketball dropped its second road game of the year with a 81-67 loss to San Diego Sunday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Rainbow Warriors dropped to 2-4 on the season with its second loss to the Toreros (4-5) in the last month.

The team's met in the season-opener on Nov. 9, a 73-72 UH loss. Like the first meeting, UH fell behind by double digits early and couldn't quite recover. The Toreros used a 22-4 run in the first half to forge ahead big, then held off a UH second-half rally to defeat the Rainbow Warriors in the return game of an in-season home-and-home series.

Junior guard Brandon Johnson burned the 'Bows for 25 points, shooting 10-of-16 from the field, including four three-pointers. Gyno Pomare added 18 for the Toreros, while Chris Lewis posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Four players finished in double digits for UH, led by 15 points each by seniors Bobby Nashand Stephen Verwers. It was a career scoring effort for Verwers who also added four rebounds and two blocks, while Nash finished with 15 despite being riddle with foul trouble for the second straight road game. Riley Luettgerodt finished with 14 points and Jared Dillinger added 11.

UH held an early 12-6 lead, but the Toreros reeled off 13 straight points, nine coming from Johnson, to seize the lead for good. The Toreros extended its lead to as many as 23 points before taking a 49-33 lead into the locker room.

USD shot a blistering 61 percent from the floor and nailed six of its first eight three-point attempts. Meanwhile, UH suffered its worst first half shooting performance of the year, missing 25 of its 37 attempts.

The Toreros were in control of the game up by 20 with 12 minutes left. But UH cut the deficit in half with an 11-1 run, capped by a Matt Gibson layup, and trailed by just 10 with five minutes remaining. Johnson took over however, scoring seven of USD's next nine points to put the game away.

UH finished with a 35-33 advantage on the boards, but couldn't overcome a 57 percent shooting performance by the Toreros.

The 'Bows return to the islands where they will play six straight home games in the month of December, beginning with a match-up versus Long Beach State on Sunday, Dec. 9. Tipoff is 5:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

 

 

 

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