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HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team had its bid for the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic title denied by High Point University with a 62-54 loss in a midnight contest at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Panthers used a 19-2 second half run to take down the Rainbow Warriors in a nationally-televised blackout game.  
 
Mike Thomas scored all of his team-high 14 points in the first half, regularly getting good looks around the basket. Thomas would be plagued by foul trouble however for most of the second half along with Roderick Bobbitt and Isaac Fleming who fouled out. Fleming was a spark off the UH bench, scoring 11 points on 5-8 shooting.
 
John Brown, the tournament's MVP, dropped a game-high 19 points for High Point (3-0) with Tarique Thompson adding 13 points.
 
The 'Bows (2-1) started off cold from the floor, hitting on just two of their first 10 shots and trailed by four points at the first media timeout. The slow start didn't last for long as a layup by Fleming and a jumper by Stefan Jovanovic (6 pts, 5 reb) gave the 'Bows a 12-11 lead. UH continued to lead for the rest of the half.
 
The second half again saw the 'Bows get off to a slow start and not score their first basket until Flemings' three-pointer at the 14:35 mark. That snapped an 8-1 run for the Panthers who still led 37-35 early in the second half.
 
The 'Bows then caught fire and went on a 16-2 run highlighted by Quincy Smith's two-handed dunk that nearly brought the Stan Sheriff Center house down. UH led 48-39 at that point with 8:07 remaining in the game but the momentum quickly died down as HPU took control.
 
The 'Bows retake the Stan Sheriff Center floor on Wednesday to face UH-Hilo then travel to Maui to play Pittsburgh at War Memorial Stadium. Both tip-off times are set for 7:00 p.m.