As of Wednesday afternoon, about 500 open seats remained for the Armed Forces Classic on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center, according to Clint Overby, vice president of ESPN Events.
The Veterans Day doubleheader features No. 10 Arizona taking on No. 12 Michigan State at 2 p.m., followed by No. 3 Kansas against No. 11 Indiana at 4.
The arena’s lower bowl is reserved for military personnel and Overby said about 4,000 tickets were distributed to the military for the fifth annual event’s debut in Hawaii. Overby said the rotation was planned to bring the Armed Forces Classic to Hawaii this year to coincide with the upcoming 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“We’ve been working on this really since Year 2 of the Armed Forces Classic just knowing the scope and scale of the importance of the commemoration,” Overby said.
Tickets are available at etickethawaii.com or by calling 944-2697.
The arena will be cleared before Hawaii’s season opener against SIU Edwardsville, with tipoff scheduled for 9 p.m.
Jones and Tomey named Poly Bowl coaches
June Jones and Dick Tomey, the two winningest coaches in University of Hawaii football history, will be the head coaches for the inaugural Polynesian Bowl, Jan. 21 at Aloha Stadium.
Also, Polynesian Football Hall of Fame members Jack Thompson and Olin Kreutz will be honorary head coaches, the PFHOF announced Thursday.
Hawaii high school head coaches Kale Ane (Punahou), Darren Hernandez (Kapolei), Abu Ma‘afala (Kamehameha) and Vavae Tata (Kahuku) are among the assistant coaches.
Tickets for the all-star game featuring many of the top high school seniors of Polynesian and other ethnicities are available via Ticketmaster. See www.polynesianbowl.com for more information.
Koenig, Eddy receive All-PacWest honors
Sven Koenig of the Hawaii Pacific men’s soccer team was named the PacWest Player of the Year, while Sydney Eddy of the BYU-Hawaii women’s soccer team was named the PacWest Newcomer of the Year. The awards, which are voted on by the league’s coaches, were announced Wednesday.
Koenig led the PacWest in points (46), goals (21), and shots (102). He also ranked second nationally in goals per game (1.24) and points per game (2.71). He was the PacWest Player of the Week twice this season, and collected three hat tricks during the season.
Eddy, a transfer from Ole Miss, led the Seasiders in scoring with 15 points (seven goals, one assist), which ranked eighth in the PacWest.
Koenig and HPU teammate Erik Kemsies, as well as BYU-Hawaii’s Braden Bailey, were all named to the PacWest first team. BYUH’s Jake McRae and Chaminade’s Curtis Coburn were named to the second team, while HPU’s Josch Cuerten and Chaminade’s Bernd Bueschoerhoff were named to the third team. On the women’s side, Eddy and HPU’s Noelle Mercado were named to the second team, and BYUH’s Mackenzie Bean was named to the third team.
Hawaii water polo team signs Keuning
Head coach Maureen Cole of the Hawaii water polo team announced the signing of Maartje Keuning on Wednesday’s fall signing day. Keuning will join the Rainbow Wahine during the spring semester for the 2016-17 season.
Keuning, a native of Stompetoren, Holland, brings a wealth of experience in international competition, as well as on the Dutch national teams. Keuning helped lead the 2013 Youth National Team to the bronze medal at the Youth European Championships, and captained the 2014 team. A member of the Junior National team since 2014, she led the Dutch team to the bronze medal of the 2015 Pythia Cup and the gold medal at the Junior European Championships this past September.
Seasiders drop exhibition to BYU
The BYU-Hawaii men’s basketball team started strong, but were unable to keep up with host BYU, falling 110-63 to the Cougars in an exhibition in Provo, Utah, on Wednesday.
The Seasiders kept the score as close as a two-point deficit during the first half. But the Cougars used a 10-0 run to blow the game open and wound up taking a 53-35 lead into the half. In the second half, BYU used a 22-0 run to push the lead to as many as 52.
The 63 points for the Seasiders marked a new high in the series with the Cougars. Tanner Nelson led the Seasiders with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
BYU-Hawaii will open its regular season on Monday, facing Alaska Fairbanks at Cannon Activities Center. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.