Box Score
Post-Game Quotes

HONOLULU – The 2008-09 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Warrior basketball season got off to a tough start with a 75-70 loss to San Francisco in the Verizon Wireless Tip-Off Classic Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH and USF went back-and-forth for the full 40 minutes before the Dons held on to victory in the closing moments.

 

It was a tightly-contested game with neither team leading by more than seven points.  USF (1-0) weathered the storm early, took its first lead early in the second half and survived a last ditch three-point attempt by  the Rainbow Warriors' (0-1) to nab a win in the season opener for both teams. It is the third straight year that UH has dropped its season opener.

 

Blake Wallace led USF (1-0) with 21 points, including four three-pointers. Meanwhile, junior forward Dior Lowhorn scored all but one of his 16 points in the second half, when the Dons began to slowly pull away.   

 

Hawai`i got its entire offense from its starting five with each player finishing in double figures. Junior center Petras Balocka led UH with 18 points in his Rainbow Warrior debut, while sophomore Kareem Nitoto and junior college transfer Lasha Parghalava finished with 14 points a piece. Roderick Flemings made his much-anticipated debut with UH and recorded 13 points, six rebounds and two steals. Bill Amis, UH's lone returning starter from last year, chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.

 

The 'Bows got off to a blazing start, scoring the game's first seven points. UH would lead for virtually the entire first half with the bulk of its points coming from the free throw line. UH put up just 12 shots in the first half and went a10-minute stretch without a field goal , but sank 14 free throws to take a 30-29 lead at the break.

 

USF took its first lead 15 seconds into the second half on a Manny Quezada bucket. There would be three ties and seven lead changes from that point on with the Dons taking the lead for good on the hot hand of Wallace. With UH leading by one, Wallace nailed back-to-back three pointers to give the Dons 52-47 lead midway through the second half.

 

UH would trail the rest of the way, but had an opportunity to send the game into overtime, trailing 73-70 in the closing seconds. However, Flemings' three-point attempt from 23 feet out bounced off the front of the rim. USF gathered the rebound and Wallace sealed the game with a pair of free throws with just under five seconds left.

 

In the first game of the evening, Texas State defeated Cal State Fullerton, 76-66.

 

The Tip-Off Classic will conclude on Sunday with Texas State facing San Francsico at 2:30 p.m., followed by Hawaii vs. Cal State Fullerton at 5:00 p.m.