HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team used a late run to shut the door on Hawaii Pacific, 90-70, in an exhibition contest Wednesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
UH led nearly wire-to-wire, trailing briefly once just five minutes in to the game. The Sharks kept it competitive though, trailing by five at half and by just six with seven minutes left.  However, UH suspended all doubt, going on a 23-9 run late in the game to build an insurmountable  20-point lead.  
 
The Rainbow Warriors sported balance with players getting involved early and often. Ten players got into the game less than eight minutes in and eight of them got in the scoring column by the 10-minute mark of the first half. In all five players finished in double-digits led by seniors Gibson Johnson (18 points) and Mike Thomas (17). 
 
Starting guards Leland Green (13) and Sheriff Drammeh (10) also finished in double-digits, while Drew Buggs was impressive off the bench. The redshirt freshman recorded 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.
 
UH used a 17-4 run, capped by a Green corner jumper to build a double-digit lead midway through the first half. The 'Bows led by as many as 12 points in that first frame, but HPU overcame a tough start shooting to cut the deficit to just 41-36 at the break.
 
UH pushed its lead back to double-digits less than five minutes into the second half, but HPU hung around and cut the deficit to 65-59 with 7:18 remaining. That was as close as it would get though as Drammeh drilled a three-pointer on UH's very next possession to kick-start the game's decisive run.
 
The Rainbow Warriors shot 52 percent for the game and were utterly dominate inside, finishing with a 52-22 advantage in the paint. The UH bigs of Johnson, Thomas and sophomore Ido Flaisher combined to shoot 18-of-22, including a perfect night for Johnson who went 7-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line.  
 
UH also racked up 21 assists and had just 10 turnovers on the evening. HPU—which stayed in the game by going 24-of-28 from the line—was led by Jonathan Janssen with 19 points. Former Rainbow Warrior Larry Lewis finished with 15 points.  
 
The Rainbow Warriors will open up the regular-season on Friday, Nov. 10, when they take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic.