HENDERSON, Nev. — The Hawai'i men's basketball team used a stellar defensive effort and the leadership of team captain
Harry Rouhliadeff to fuel a 78-63 win over Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals of the Credit Union 1 Big West Championship Friday night at Lee's Family Forum.
The second-seeded Rainbow Warriors' (23-8) win sets up a monumental championship game showdown with top-seeded UC Irvine Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PT/4:00 p.m. HT. The teams split their regular-season series and their third meeting will determine the Big West's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament
The Rainbow Warriors will make the program's third-ever appearance in the Big West title game and first since winning the title in 2016.
Rouhliadeff posted his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds while
Isaac Johnson finished with a team-high 19 points and helped punctuate the win with two late dunks.
Dre Bullock electrified the crowd with two ferocious dunks in an 11-point performance and
Hunter Erickson added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Fullerton entered the game as the top-scoring team in the Big West at 83.6 points per game, but the 'Bows held the Titans to just 36 percent shooting and 20 points below their average. The 'Bows also crushed the Titans on the glass, 53-26, and built an 18-8 advantage in second-chance points.
UH buried its first 24 free-throw attempts, before finishing 25-of-26 from the line.
The first half was a knockdown-drag out fight with alternating runs. UH spotted the Titans the first bucket of the game but the 'Bows scored 10 straight points in less than two minutes to surge ahead. Fullerton went on a 9-0 run to knot it 13-13 and was within 17-16 at the 7:20 mark.
But
Isaac Finlinson's four-point play on a made three-pointer kick-started a 10-0 UH run that put UH up by double-digits before the 'Bows took a 29-21 lead into halftime. Both teams shot miserably in the first frame – UH at 31 percent and Fullerton at 33 percent. UH however was the aggressor with a 25-16 advantage on the boards. The Titan's 21 first-half points tied a season-low for a UH opponent.
Fullerton got back in the game on the hot hand of Christian Williams who hit a trio of three-pointers in the first eight minutes of the half. The Titans took a 34-33 lead with a three-pointer at the 16:33 mark, their first lead since scoring the first basket of the game and another three-pointer made it, 42-42, five minutes later.
UH went on a 9-0 run, capped by a Rouhliadeff tip-in to give UH a 53-44 lead with 8:20 remaining. Johnson hit six free throws in an eight-point UH run that extended the lead to 61-47 with 5:57 left. Bullock hammered a dunk and the Titans would get no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Williams made six three-pointers and led Cal State Fullerton with a game-high 21 points.
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