HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team broke open a tight game with a flourish of a finish in an 80-69 win over San Jose State on day two of the OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic on Sunday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH outscored San Jose State 26-13 over the final 8:14 to pull away from the Spartans and improve to 2-0.
The win sets up a tournament title game versus Pacific on Monday at 7 p.m. The Tigers handily defeated Life Pacific, 94-41, in the first game on Sunday to also move to 2-0 in the Classic.
Tanner Christensen scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead five Rainbow Warriors in double-figures.
Tom Beattie set a new career-high with 16 points, as did
Harry Rouhliadeff who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Kody Williams added 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
Marcus Greene made five of his six shots to finish with 11 points and dished out a game-high four assists.
Christensen shot 8 for 10 from the field and UH out-scored the Spartans 40-22 in the paint while shooting 55 percent from the floor. After missing nine of its 10 three-point attempts in the first half, the 'Bows drilled five of nine after the break. For the second straight game UH took care of the ball, committing just six turnovers.
In the first meeting between the teams in 12 years when they were Western Athletic Conference rivals, UH got off to a fast start in scoring the first five points and nine of the game's first 11. The Spartans responded with an 11-2 run of their own and set the tone for a back-and-forth affair with a whopping seven ties and 11 lead changes in the first half alone. UH shot 48 percent from the floor overall, but trailed 38-34 at the break.
SJSU led by as many six early in the second half, but UH tied it at 44-44 when Kody WIlliams' buried a three-pointer as the shot clock expired.
Christensen's layup with 8:14 left forged the last of game's 12 ties at 56-56 and Rouhliadeff drained a 3-pointer to give UH the lead at the 7:55 mark.
Williams' second 3-pointer sparked a 15-5 UH run as the Warriors took command on their way to improving to 28-12 all-time versus San Jose State, including 16-3 in Honolulu. Greene had two buckets in the run and fed Christensen for a dunk to punctuate the win.
Donovan Yap Jr. made three 3-pointers and led San Jose State (0-3) with 16 points. Sadaidriene Hall added 14 for the Spartans.
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