The Hawaii men’s basketball team got some tentatively good news today regarding senior point guard Hiram Thompson, who went down early in the second half of UH’s 69-67 overtime win against Nevada last night and didn’t return.

UH coach Gib Arnold said this morning that Thompson’s left (non-shooting) arm was not broken, as was feared last night.

However, there could be some serious ligament damage in the arm, which the team will know more about after MRI results come in, most likely tomorrow.

“The swelling had to go down, it’s one of those deals where they had to wait and see,” Arnold said. “But the X-ray did not show a break. But there’s definitely some ligament damage in there, and how long (he’s out) or to what extent (of the damage) we still don’t know yet.”

On the play, Thompson raced along the right sideline on a fast break but tripped against pressure near the baseline, bracing the fall with his left arm. He retained possession and called timeout.

Serious damage would amount to a career-ending injury this late in the season for the starting point guard, who’s battled various ailments throughout his UH career.

“It was positive on what it could have been,” Arnold said. “If it’s torn ligaments, he’s out just as long as if it were a break. But the one thing we ruled out was it’s broken. I would say (I’m) cautiously optimistic.

“He felt it really good last night. I remember when it happened, he stood up and looked right at me and said, ‘I’m out. You gotta take me out.’ He knew pretty immediately that it was hurt.”

Thompson, a tri-captain, is averaging 8.7 points and 2.6 assists per game. He’s gotten effective relief of late from junior backup Miah Ostrowski. Ostrowski hit the game-winning floater in overtime last night, putting the Rainbow Warriors (14-10, 5-7) in sixth place in the Western Athletic Conference.