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Whiteout Night was a Wipeout Night tonight for the Hawaii men’s basketball team. Cal Poly not only spoiled senior night for the Rainbow Warriors at the Stan Sheriff Center but did some damage to UH’s hopes of a top-four finish in conference place.
Junior forward Chris Eversley took apart the Warrior defense, scoring a game-high 25 points, and the Mustangs held off a late charge from Hawaii to escape with a 64-61 victory in front of a crowd of nearly 9,000. The loss dropped Hawaii (17-12, 10-7) from third to fifth place, a half game behind Cal Poly (15-12, 10-6) and UC Irvine (17-13, 10-6).
Freshman guard Reese Morgan added 10 points for the Mustangs, who swept the series from the Warriors.
Hawaii got 17 points from freshman guard Isaac Fotu and a double-double from senior center Vander Joaquin (15 points, 10 rebounds) in seeking a modest two-game win-streak snapped. Senior forward Hans Brereton added 13 points.
The Warriors led briefly, at 8-7 and 36-35, the latter on Brereton’s second 3-pointer with 14:51 remaining. The Mustangs pulled away by as much as 11, at 59-48 on Eversley’s layup with 5:31.
The Warriors finish the regular season on the road at Cal State Northridge (13-17, 4-13) Thursday.
