LONG BEACH, Calif.  – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team made its much-awaited Big West debut with a big 72-67 road win at Long Beach State  Saturday afternoon at the Walter Pyramid. The Rainbow Warriors improved to 5-5 overall while winning its league opener on the road for the third straight year.
 
After a 16-game hiatus, which included four canceled games, the 'Bows finally returned to action and showed little rust. The 'Bows used familiar weapons — a barrage of three-pointers and the scoring of Noel Coleman — to nab the win.
 
UH entered the game averaging a Big West-best nine three-pointers per game. The 'Bows drained 15 three-pointers on Saturday, the second-highest total in program history. Coleman accounting for six of them finished with a game-high 22 points for his fifth 20-point performance of the year.   
 
The Rainbow Warriors built its lead to as many as 19 points midway through the second half before holding off a late rally by LBSU (4-9, 0-1). The win was just UH's third all-time in Long Beach with two of those road wins coming in the last four years.  
 
Jerome Desrosiers notched a career-high 17 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. UH also got a boost off the bench from JoVon McClanahan and Zoar Nedd who each contributed nine points and combined for five three-pointers. Bernardo da Silva returned to action for the first time since November after a six-game absence and posted six points and nine rebounds.
 
UH led 32-27 at halftime on the strength of eight three-pointers. The Beach cut the deficit to one point in the early minutes of the second half, but the 'Bows went on a key 12-2 run that gave them their first double-digit lead of the game.
 
On the wings of its long-range shooting, which included 7-of-12 from three in the second half, UH extended its lead to 60-41 with less than 10 minutes remaining.  Long Beach State made a late run and cut the deficit to just four points with 16 seconds left. But that would be as close as it would get as UH ultimately sealed its third straight win in the series.
 
UH will now return to Honolulu to host a pair of home games versus UC Irvine (Jan. 13) and UC San Diego (Jan. 15) at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.