U.S. pride fuels UH in physical victory

Hei Shan, China » The moment the Hawaii men’s basketball team climbed up a flight of narrow steps onto the hardwood at Fushanmuye Arena, it was obvious that the Rainbow Warriors were playing for something more than just the name written on the front of their jerseys.

A large electronic scoreboard displayed the teams not as Hawaii vs. Shenyang, but as USA and China in bright red lettering. A sellout crowd of 3,000 in the intimate gym greeted the Rainbows with a roar more than an hour before tipoff.

UH coach Gib Arnold called it "China’s version of Hoosiers."

The visitors, inspired by the dramatic setting, torched the Panpan Dinosaurs in the first quarter, then held serve the rest of the way in an 89-70 blowout of the Chinese Basketball Association team on Monday night.

"You gotta feel patriotic over here. We from USA," said freshman point guard Shaquille Stokes, who buried Shenyang with 11 fourth-quarter points among his game-high 29. "We didn’t have Team Hawaii. USA. China vs. USA. We had to play for our country and also our family at home and the school."

The Rainbows improved to 2-1 against CBA teams on the trip, with the last meeting against the pro league tonight, a second game against Shenyang.

UH expects the Dinosaurs — who are considered a much better team than previous opponent Qingdao — to come out with a vengeance in the rematch. It will be UH’s third game in as many nights.

Whereas the curious visitors were beloved by the crowds in two earlier meetings against Qingdao, here in Hei Shan — little more than a Zane Johnson 3-pointer away from the North Korean border — there was an aura of quiet hostility. No children rushed the court for photos with the Rainbows after the game this time.

Apparently a full regiment of uniformed police wasn’t enough to ensure the team’s safety. Even the Chinese SWAT team showed up to preserve the peace.

It turned out to be a good idea. The hostility boiled over into a benches-clearing scrum in the third quarter, but order was restored after a few moments and UH resumed sending the Dinosaurs into extinction.

No scout footage was available on the older opponents, but heavy doses of pick-and-roll offense worked just fine for the ‘Bows. Stokes worked the screens masterfully in the fourth quarter, hitting three 3-pointers in the period to put the game away.

UH also got an unexpected lift from sophomore center Davis Rozitis, who shook off illness from food poisoning to put in 17 points off the bench.

"I thought I was going to faint in the middle of the game," the 7-foot Latvian said. "I still feel sick, but once game time comes, adrenaline rushes through your blood and you forget about those kinds of things."

Sophomore forward Trevor Wiseman added 13 points and junior forward Joston Thomas chipped in 10 for the Rainbows.

After UH captured the first quarter 25-12, the closest Shenyang got was 40-33, then 54-46. The game could have easily swung at the foul line, but the Dinosaurs were 8-for-23 there in the first half.

The Dinosaurs had enough bricks to build a better gym if they wanted, but that didn’t soothe Arnold. An 18-5 foul disparity in the hosts’ favor before halftime got the UH coach hopping mad on the sidelines. He earned a technical foul for his trouble during a span in which UH was assessed eight fouls in the first six Shenyang possessions of the second quarter.

"(The referee) asked me if I wanted a T, and I said yes," Arnold said. "And he was true to his word. I earned it."