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Junior center Vander Joaquim turned in his ninth double-double of the season with 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead Hawaii to a 62-58 win over Fresno State tonight in a Western Athletic Conference basketball game at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Junior forward Hauns Brereton added 12 points and junior forward Joston Thomas 11 for the Rainbow Warriors (14-10, 6-4 WAC).
Jerry Brown led the Bulldogs (11-16, 3-8) with 17 points.
Hawaii won the battle of the boards with a 35-29 edge in rebounds.
Rainbows senior guard Zane Johnson, scoreless in the first half for the second time in three games, hit a jumper with 9:16 left in the second half to give Hawaii a 51-42 lead. The only other points for UH’s leading scorer came via a critical jumper with 34.1 seconds to go that gave the Rainbows a 62-56 cushion.
Hawaii opened the game on a 12-1 run, with Brereton scoring five points and Joaquim adding four.
Fresno State caught the Warriors at 24 on Kevin Foster’s basket with 4:32 left before halftime.
Hawaii answered with baskets by Thomas and Joaquim to take a 28-24 lead at intermission.
The Bulldogs took their only lead of the game on Brown’s layup with 15:58 to go. Joaquim sparked a 10-0 spurt that put the Rainbows up for good at 45-37 with 12:22 remaining.
