HONOLULU – The University of Hawaii men's basketball team opened the 2024-25 campaign with a resounding 96-61 win over Life Pacific in the OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic Friday night at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Sophomore forward
Akira Jacobs led six Rainbow Warriors in double-digits with a career-high 18 points. Making his first career start, junior guard
Kody Williams also had career high with 14, including 11 points in the first seven minutes alone.
Tom Beattie finished with 13 points, while Gytis Nemeiksa had 14,
Tanner Christensen scored 11 and
Jerome Palm added 10 in their Rainbow Warrior debuts.
Williams and Jacobs surpassed their previous career highs by halftime as UH took a comfortable 27-point lead into the locker room against the NAIA Warriors.
UH shot 64.5% from the field and hit eight 3-pointers in a 56-point first half. Williams connected on all four of his 3-point attempts and went into halftime with 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting overall. Beattie also made all five of his shots from the field and Jacobs went 4-for-5.
Life Pacific led 10-9 when Jacobs and Williams hit two 3-pointers each in a 12-0 run to spark an 18-2 UH surge. The 'Bows closed the half with a 12-2 burst highlighted by Williams' fourth 3-pointer and
Marcus Greene pushing the pace and dropping an assist to Beattie for a layup and finishing off a transition bucket of his own and UH went into halftime with a 56-29 lead.
UH cruised in the second half as the lead ballooned to as many as 37. UH shot 65 percent for the game with 10 different players in the scoring column. The 'Bows committed just five turnovers and out-rebounded the Warriors, 43-20. UH grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and allowed just four, leading to a 23-0 advantage in second-chance points.
It marked UH's 15th win in its last 16 season-openers with all of them coming by double-digits. UH's 35-point margin of victory was the 'Bows' widest since an 88-52 win over Hawaii Pacific on Dec. 8, 2021.
The Rainbow Warriors will continue tournament play with a matchup versus San Jose State on Sunday at 5 p.m. The Spartans fell to Pacific, 80-67, in the opening game of the tournament.
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