Box Score

FRESNO, Calif. – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team gave one of it most determined efforts of the season with a 74-68 overtime road win at Fresno State Thursday night at the Save Mart Center. The Rainbow Warriors, winners of eight of their last 10 games, improved to 10-6 overall and 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.
 
UH got off to a fast start and led for nearly the entire game but needed to survive a final frantic minute of regulation and some tense moments in overtime. Despite's the home team's bid to steal the win, the Rainbow Warriors wouldn't be denied in winning it first road opener in WAC play since 2004. It was also just the fifth time in 21 tries that UH won in Fresno.
 
Zane Johnson scored a game-high 24 points to lead Hawai'i. However it was Vander Joaquim who lifted UH with his clutch play. Joaquim scored  UH's final two baskets of regulation, including the game-tying basket with five seconds left, then scored 10 of UH's 16 points in overtime. Joaquim finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.  
 
UH, which also got 11 assists from senior point guard Jeremiah Ostrowski, is off to its first 2-0 start in WAC play in five years.

UH got off to a fast start, seizing a 16-3 lead less than six minutes into the game. Johnson scored 10 of those points, while burying his first four attempts. UH eventually took a 32-23 lead into the locker room.
 
Hawai'i led by eight points with eight minutes left, but the Bulldogs (7-11, 0-3 WAC)  rallied and took the lead for the first time since the opening minute of the game on a Jerry Brown jumper with just 43 seconds remaining. Joaquim answered for UH on its next possession, but the Bulldogs made it a two-point advantage on a Steve Shepp three-pointer with 15 seconds left. Joaquim came through for UH again with a tough inside basket with five seconds left and when Kevin Olekaibe's last-second three-pointer fell off the mark, the game went to an extra period.
 
Hawai'i scored the first seven points of overtime and again looked poised to run away with a win. But Tyler Johnson hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it a one-point game. UH, however, would not be denied, as Joaquim scored the next five points for the 'Bows, including a crucial three-point play that gave UH a 70-66 lead with less than a minute to play.
 
It was UH's second overtime win in less than a month after beating nationally ranked Xavier in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. 
 
The Rainbow Warriors now head to Reno for a showdown with league-leader Nevada (13-3, 3-0 WAC) on Saturday, Jan. 14. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. HT) at the Lawlor Events Center.