HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team used a strong second-half performance and a boost from its bench to rally past Long Beach State, 78-76, Friday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors improved to 9-8 overall and 7-8 in the Big West.
 
After a lackluster first half in which the team trailed by as many as 16 points, the 'Bows came alive in a second-half. UH shot 63 percent after the break and made a number of timely stops for a key conference victory. UH ended a three-game series skid against the Beach (5-8, 4-5 Big West) and the 'Bows moved percentage points ahead of them as the teams jockey for position for the upcoming Big West Tournament.  
 
Justin Webster, who was sidelined in UH's previous game at CSUN, returned to the lineup to score a team-high 16 points. The 'Bows also got a huge contribution from its reserves who out-scored the LBSU bench, 42-4. The 'Bows got season-best scoring performances from JoVon McClanahan (13 points) and Justin Hemsley (12), while also getting 10 points from Mate Colina.
 
LBSU got a season-high 23 points from Chance Hunter, who victimized UH for much of the game but failed to capitalize on a potential game-winning three-point attempt in the final seconds.
 
Long Beach got off to a fast start, scoring 11 of the game's first 13 points. The Beach build a 31-15 lead in the first half and behind 56 percent shooting eventually took a 39-30 advantage into the locker room. UH shot just 2-of-13 on three-pointers and turned the ball over nine times in the first frame.
 
UH fell behind by 14 points, 49-35, in the opening minutes of the second half. But fueled by a stretch of seven straight made shots, UH went on 26-11 run and took their first lead of the game, 61-60, on a McClanahan layup with 10 minutes left.
 
From there on it was back-and-forth until McClanahan's jumper put UH up for good, 71-69, with just under four minutes to play. UH narrowly stayed ahead for the remainder of the game, but needed to hold its breath in the waning moments when Hunter's wide-open look from three bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
 
The team's will meet again on Saturday for UH's final home game of the season. Tipoff is 5:00 p.m. at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff. Center.