HONOLULU  – The  University of Hawai'i men's basketball team closed out its home schedule with a hard-earned  62-50 win over CSU Bakersfield Saturday night at Simplifi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. With their second straight win the Rainbow Warriors (15-9, 9-4 Big West) kept themselves alive in the race for the league title while sending seniors Mate Colina, Jerome Desrosiers and Junior Madut out on winning note in their home appearance.
 
UH currently sits in third place in the Big West standings, but is just one game behind first-place Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, with two regular-season road games remaining.  They got their by finishing the game on an 18-6 surge in an otherwise tight game against the RoadRunners (7-16, 2-11).
 
Bernardo da Silva led a balanced UH attack with 14 points and helped kick start UH's final push to victory. JoVon McClanahan added 11 points and six assists, while Madut added 10 points in his final appearance as a Rainbow Warrior.  
 
The game was close throughout and it was knotted up, 44-44 with just under seven minutes left. But Desrosiers converted on a three-point play to break the tie and start a string of seven unanswered points that put the Rainbow Warriors up for good.The 'Bows were solid at the free throw line (21-of-26) and took care of the ball with just nine turnovers.
 
The 'Bows now head to the road for their final two regular-season games at UC Santa Barbara and CSUN. First up is the Guachos on Thursday, March  3 at 7:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. HT.