’Bows hang tough to beat Titans in overtime

FULLERTON, Calif. >> For Hawaii, revisiting a plateau last seen in 2002 meant surviving attrition Saturday night.

Despite being 26 seconds away from defeat and having two starters foul out, the Rainbow Warriors rallied for an 86-79 overtime victory over Cal State Fullerton in Big West Conference action at Titan Gym.

UH (15-2, 4-0) thus matches the record compiled by the 2001-02 squad after 17 games. That team became the last group of Warriors to reach the NCAA Tournament.

“We’ve been very big in terms of knowing it’s early,” UH coach Eran Ganot said about his players’ current success. “What’s served us well to get to this point is what’s going to serve us well if we do it. That’s the ‘next game’ mentality, taking it a day at a time. I know that sounds cliched, but this team has done a great job with that.”

The Warriors virtually had to take it one second at a time against Fullerton, which nearly earned its first victory against UH in conference play despite its own troubles.

The Titans (8-8, 1-2) dressed only eight players for the game. Tre’ Coggins, the Big West’s second-leading scorer, sat out most of the second half after getting his fourth foul 45 seconds into that half. In the final seconds of regulation, Fullerton put four players on the court with four fouls apiece.

Nevertheless, the Titans’ defense frustrated the visitors, who shot just 33 percent in the first half.

“They got us on our heels,” Ganot said. “One of the things we need to do is to continue to be aggressive against man and zone defenses. We’ve made improvements there, but tonight we went backwards, especially in the first half.

“We were stagnant. There were too many odd plays late in the shot clock because we were playing catch. In the second half, we were more aggressive.”

Isaac Fleming and Stefan Jankovic benefited most. In his second start of the season, Fleming made four of six shots from 3-point range and scored 16 of his career-best 23 points in the half.

Jankovic responded with 21 points in the second half and overtime — including the Warriors’ biggest basket in regulation — after being held scoreless in the first half.

The Warriors shot 58 percent in the second half. But Fullerton responded by making 54 percent of its shots and by recovering from a five-point deficit to take a 71-67 lead with 26.1 seconds remaining in regulation.

However, Coggins fouled out with 15.3 seconds left. UH’s Sai Tummala made both ensuing free throws to narrow the margin to 71-69. Then after the Titans’ Kennedy Esume converted the second of two foul shots with 5.3 seconds to go, Jankovic made his biggest impact.

The 6-foot-11 junior made a long 3-point shot with three seconds left to force a 72-72 tie.

In overtime, UH took early control by exploiting two turnovers. Fleming stole a pass intended for Fullerton’s Jamar Akoh, got fouled and made both free throws 48 seconds into the extra period.

Quincy Smith followed with another steal on the Titans’ next possession. That steal resulted in two free throws from Jankovic, and UH held a 76-72 lead 1:35 into overtime.

Fullerton drew within 82-79 with 50 seconds to play, but Tummala and Roderick Bobbitt each made a pair of foul shots to ensure the win. UH made all 12 of its free throws in overtime.

Bobbitt added 14 points, six assists and three steals. Freshman Khalil Ahmad led five Titans in double figures with 19 points. Lionheart Leslie, Fullerton’s 5-foot-10 point guard, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and scored 17 points.