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HONOLULU – In front of a sold out Stan Sheriff Center crowd, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team scratched and clawed but eventually fell from the ranks of the Big West Conference's unbeaten in a 78-64 loss to Long Beach State on Saturday. The sellout was the first since Nebraska in 2004.
 
The 'Bows (16-3, 5-1 BWC) had an opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the league after UC Irvine fell at home earlier to UC Santa Barbara. Mike Thomas, whose layup with under four minutes to play shaved the lead to three points, delivered a career-high 20 points.
 
Quincy Smith put up 13 points on 5-8 shooting while also tallying four rebounds, four steals and dishing out four assists.
 
Nick Faust was the catalyst for the Beach's win, posting game highs of 28 points and 14 rebounds to help LBSU improve to 11-12 and 5-3 in the league.
 
The 'Bows trailed by 10 points with just over seven minutes remaining before Roderick Bobbitt's three pointer cut into the lead and an and-one dunk by Smith sliced the lead in half and sent the 9,078 in attendance into a frenzy. Thomas's layup cut the lead to three but it would be all Long Beach State from there, ending the game on a 12-1 run to seize the win.
 
Scoring was at a premium early as only eight points were put on the board by the first media timeout. Bobbitt (12 pts, 5 ast, 3 stl) opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but it would be a long time before the 'Bows would see the ball go through the hoop again. They finally broke a scoring drought of 7:22 and ended a 12-0 run with a pair of free throws by Thomas. Thomas later scored in the paint for UH's first points since Bobbitt's triple.
 
The 'Bows would use a 9-0 run late in the first half to get back in the game and shave the lead to just three points. They would not be able to take the momentum into the second half however as the lead crept back up to 12 points just over five minutes into the half. Travis Hammonds (10 pts) capitalized off a Bobbitt turnover, nailing a three pointer then adding another bucket to extend the lead to 48-36.
 
Hawai'i heads back out for its second conference road trip. They play UC Santa Barbara this Thursday, Feb. 4 then face Cal Poly the following Saturday.