Hawaii’s second nonconference test bore a striking resemblance to the first.
As in the opener against Hawaii Pacific, the Rainbow Warriors managed to hang onto a lead heading into halftime then surged away after the break on their way to an 89-66 win over Hawaii Hilo on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena.
The Rainbows (2-0) led the Vulcans by 10 at halftime. UH guard Justin Webster scored eight of his 15 points in a three-minute burst to open the second half as the Rainbow Warriors pulled away to remain undefeated in 12 meetings in the intrastate series.
UH forward Casdon Jardine hit three of four 3-point attempts and finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. James Jean-Marie added 12 points off the bench on 3-for-4 shooting from the field and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Justin Hemsley contributed 10 points and opened the second half with a dunk to ignite UH’s 21-8 run over the first five minutes after halftime.
The undulating nature of their first two games left UH coach Eran Ganot with positive stretches to build on and rough areas to iron out with conference play a week away.
“It’s a good quality to impose your will in the first five minutes of the second halves of games. But it’s not a good quality to play so lethargic, and poorly in some areas, in first halves of games,” Ganot said. “I hope we can continue to get out of the gates in the second half like we’ve done, but we have to do a better job in the first half of these games.”
UH shot 61% from the field in the second half, outrebounded the Vulcans 53-28 and overcame 21 turnovers in the win.
The Rainbow Warriors open Big West play with a two-game series against Cal Poly on Dec. 27 and 28 at SimpliFi Arena.
Freshman Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones led UH-Hilo with a game-high 18 points in the debut of Big Island product Kaniela Aiona as the Vulcans’ head coach.
Sasa Vuksanovic, the Vulcans’ leading returning scorer, finished with 14 points despite picking up with fourth foul with 15:36 left. Guard Darren Williams finished with 13 in a game that counted as an exhibition for UH-Hilo.
UH opened up a nine-point lead seven minutes into the game and weathered an extended drought late in the half to take a 37-27 advantage into halftime.
Hemsley came off the bench in the first half, but was in the starting five to open the second half and his dunk off a backdoor assist from Jardine sparked the outburst coming out of the locker room. The Rainbows hit seven of their first nine shots after the break to stretch the cushion to 23 five minutes into the second half.
“More than anything we were looking for a pop in energy and talk and Hemsley earned that and it became contagious with our team,” Ganot said. “Hopefully we get more consistent stretches with that.”
Webster followed with a 3-pointer and later gave UH a 49-33 lead by converting a three-point play. He scored on a drive while drawing a foul. He drained a jumper on UH’s next possession to push the lead to 51-33.
“I felt like coming out in the second half I just had to bring more energy, do what I do best, try to make plays for others, score the basketball, and just be a leader, be a captain,” Webster said. “We can credit Justin Hemsley for sparking that.”
After a 3-pointer by freshman Biwali Bayles, who got the start in his second collegiate game, and Junior Madut’s silky mid-range jumper, the Rainbows led 58-35 and maintained a controlling lead through the remainder of the game.
“The first half it was all right but the second half … we definitely felt the difference,” Bayles said. “More guys communicating, sharing the ball more, and just being more confident overall.”
Sophomore forward Bernardo da Silva made his season debut after sitting out the opener against HPU and went 1-for-3 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
UH never trailed in game and opened up a 27-17 lead when Jardine drained his first 3-point attempt with 7:44 left in the first half.
That would be the Rainbows’ last field goal over the next 6 minutes, 34 seconds, going 0-for-11 from the field and just 3-for-9 from the free-throw line. UH Hilo’s turnover struggles stunted the Vulcans’ comeback attempt, although they closed to within five twice in the last 3:41.
After Webster hit two free throws, the Rainbows put on full-court pressure and Biwali Bayles came up with a steal in the backcourt and fed Webster for a layup to break the UH drought. Mate Colina closed the half with a putback off a missed 3-pointer.
“We were struggling and we got a steal, got a layup, we re able to scramble a little bit and got them into some sticky situations,” Webster said. “So the last two minutes, it was big for us.”
