HENDERSON, Nev. — It was a moment a decade in the making.
When
Dre Bullock soared to the basket in the final minute of Saturday's Credit Union 1 Big West Championship final, the University of Hawai'i guard's emphatic windmill dunk symbolically punctuated the Rainbow Warrior basketball team's first conference title since 2016.
The second-seeded Rainbow Warriors emerged from a physical battle with top-seeded UC Irvine with a 71-64 victory at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nev.
The Rainbow Warriors claimed the Big West title for the first time since head coach
Eran Ganot's debut season in 2016 and secured the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The 'Bows will learn of their next destination when the NCAA Selection Show airs on Sunday, March 15 at 12:00 p.m. HT on CBS.
Spurred by their defense, the second-seeded Rainbow Warriors' (24-8) opened up a seven-point lead with 1:30 left then held off UC Irvine (23-11) before closing out the landmark victory.
UH moved ahead with 17:41 left and never trailed the rest of the way. The 'Bows led 62-59 with 5:35 after a UC Irvine three-pointer and held the Anteaters scoreless over the next four minutes and 42 seconds while two Johnson layups extended the lead. UCI closed to within two with 38 seconds remaining, but UH answered immediately with a transition bucket by Rouhliadeff. Another stop on defense led to Bullock's dunk and the Rainbow Warrior party was on moments later.
Isaac Johnson led four Rainbow Warriors in double figures with a game-high 22 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Harry Rouhliadeff posted his second straight double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Bullock finished with 15 points.
Isaiah Kerr added 10 key points off the bench.
Rouhliadeff and Bullock joined Johnson on the All-Tournament team.
UH posted 10 blocked shots and seven steals while limiting UC Irvine to 36 percent shooting from the field. Johnson and Gytis Nemeiksa each swatted away three shots and Bullock swiped four steals.
The game pitted the top two defensive teams in the conference and it certainly started that way. The teams combined to miss 17 of their first 20 shots, including 2-of-14 shooting by UCI. UH took its first lead of the game on a Rouhliadeff three pointer at the 12:06 mark and eventually moved out to a 21-13 advantage five minutes later following back-to-back three-pointers by Johnson. UC Irvine finally found its touch hitting six of its next 12 shots and UH held a slim 31-30 lead going into halftime.
The game was knotted, 44-44 seven minutes into the second half. Kerr drilled a pair of three-pointers on consecutive possessions to put UH up 50-46. The final tie of the game came at 50-50 at the 10:21 mark before Johnson scored back-to-back baskets inside and
Hunter Erickson — who dished our eight assists in the game — drained a three-pointer to cap the seven-point run.
Rouhliadeff helped fend off the Anteaters with a layup and his second three-pointer of the night and the final sequence sealed the Rainbow Warriors victory.
Jurian Dixon led four UC Irvine players in double digits with 17 points and Kyle Evans finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
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