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UH rallies to overtime win over Chaminade

Hawaii guard Aaron Valdes scored 31 points and the Rainbow Warrior basketball team rallied to a 101-96 overtime win over Chaminade in an exhibition game tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH guard Roderick Bobbitt added 21 points and 15 assists, Quincy Smith finished with 15 points and freshman Brocke Stepteau hit four 3-pointers after halftime and the Rainbows came back from a 22-point first-half deficit to fend off the visiting Silverswords.

Chaminade forward Kiran Shastri scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the first half and Sam Daly sparked the Division II Silverswords in the second half with 15 of his 18 points. Kuany Kuany had a double-double in the first half and posted 15 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out.

Both teams open the regular season on Nov. 13. The Rainbows face Montana State at the Sheriff Center while the Silverswords open at Alaska Anchorage.

Chaminade, which lost to UH 94-63 in a regular-season game last year at Blaisdell Arena, hit seven 3-pointers in racing to a 43-32 halftime lead.

The Silverswords blitzed the Rainbows with a 19-0 run with Shastri knocking down two 3-pointers and Kevin Hu’s driving layup giving Chaminade a 40-18 lead.

UH responded with a 20-1 run bridging halftime and closed to 43-41 on Valdes’ bucket on an inbounds play under the basket early in the second half.

After the Silverswords went up 66-58 on Dantley Walker’s 3-pointer from the top, Stepteau knocked down a corner 3 followed by a steal and dunk by Smith to bring the Rainbows to within a bucket at 66-64.

But Chaminade continued to hold off the Rainbows and led 79-74 when Shastri hit two free throws.

Valdes then hit a 3-pointer and Bobbitt came up with a steal, drew a foul on his drive to the basket and made one of two free throws.

UH got the ball back on an offensive foul call with 1:21 left and Stepteau drained his third 3-pointer to give UH an 81-79 lead with 1:12 left.

Chaminade closed to 83-82 on two Kevin Hu free throws with 20.8 seconds left. Smith was fouled and made one of two free throws and Daly scored on a reverse layup with six seconds left to tie the game. Smith’s shot at the buzzer was off the mark to send the game into overtime at 84-84.

UH opened up a 91-86 lead in overtime on a Stepteau 3-pointer in front of the UH bench and Valdes knocked down another after a Chaminade turnover and the Rainbows managed to hold on the rest of the way.

Stepteau finished with 15 points, Valdes led the Rainbows with 14 rebounds and Bobbitt went 16-for-21 from the free-throw line.

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