Ferd Lewis: Rainbow Warriors honor Drew Buggs’ mother with a win

On a night when his University of Hawaii men’s basketball team paid tribute to the memory of his late mother, Drew Buggs added an exclamation point.

Well, 20 of them, actually.

The Rainbow Warriors’ unsinkable guard was the sparkplug the ‘Bows desperately needed, playing a prime role in delivering the first home victory since the first day of the month, a 70-59 triumph over Cal State Fullerton on Thursday.

The win lifted UH to 16-11 overall and 7-6 in the Big West Conference, good for a tie for third place in the standings heading into Saturday’s regular-season home finale against UC Riverside.

The win was a marked turnaround from the ’Bows’ last homestand, during which they went 0-2, and for Buggs, who had perhaps his shakiest performance as a UH starter in the 50-49 loss to Long Beach State that began it.

Buggs was held scoreless in that one, going 0-for-6 and committing five turnovers, including two uncharacteristic miscues in the final two minutes.

It was a showing that seemed to underline the grind of the 40-minute-a-game pace he had been experiencing. “It wasn’t a good game for me,” Buggs said Thursday night, refusing to blame the workload (he has played 87 percent of UH’s possible minutes this season, a figure that ranked him fourth in the conference) or the ailing right knee that has tormented him the entirety of his stay at UH.

“I knew I could that to do more to help the team for however long I’m on the court,” Buggs said. “So, for this one I just wanted to do everything that I could.”

And what he did was plenty, drawing the appreciation of a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,532. His 20 points were a team high and the second-highest total of his three years at UH. In addition, he contributed five rebounds and three assists.

But it was the energy he supplied and one of the sources of it that was the story of this game.

With the night sponsored by Hawaii Pacific Health, it was decided the ‘Bows would wear pink shoes and socks for the game and warm up in pink shirts.

Not until a few days ago, Buggs said, was he told that the back of the t-shirts would say, “Mrs. Buggs” in honor of his mother, Mary, who died from breast cancer in October.

Buggs said, “Coach (Eran Ganot) had brought it up earlier in the season that we would be doing something, but I didn’t know what game or what night it would be.”

Buggs said, “I play every game for my mom, and what also really pumped me up was knowing that we needed to get back on a good track. We needed a big-time win (Thursday). The fact that they were honoring my mom like that got me extra juiced up. I wanted to honor my mom with my play, too.”

For all his points, it was a miss that, perhaps, best illustrated what their co-captain meant to the ‘Bows in this one.

With UH clinging to a precarious eight-point lead (52-44), Buggs missed a long-range shot with 6 minutes, 36 seconds remaining. But instead of cringing, he crashed the boards with abandon, gathered the rebound and fed Eddie Stansberry for a basket.

After that the Titans (10-18, 5-7) never got closer than nine points.

And, not for the last time on this night, Buggs made his heartfelt point, too.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.