Georgia, Hawai'i advance to Rainbow Classic final

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

With a spot in the championship game on the line, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team went to the line in a 67-56 victory over Iona last night.

Hawai'i's Luc-Arthur Vebobe scored two the easy way in last night's Rainbow Classic semifinal game against Iona. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"It's the position we wanted to be in," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "We just have to go out there and play our best game of the year."

Last night was hardly UH's best performance, but it still managed to improve to 8-2 before a crowd of 4,638 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"We weren't hitting our outside shots," said UH guard Carl English. "So we had to find other ways to score."

English was the best example of that. The 6-foot-5 sophomore scored a game-high 17 points, including 9-of-12 shooting from the free-throw line.

Teammate Haim Shimonovich, a 6-10 sophomore center, contributed 16 points, including eight free throws in 13 attempts.

As a team, UH converted 23 of 38 free throws as Iona was called for 30 fouls. By comparison, the Gaels shot 10-of-16 from the free-throw line as Hawai'i was whistled for 18 fouls.

"Wow," Iona head coach Jeff Ruland said while looking at the statistics. "That's a big difference."

However, Wallace said part of Hawai'i's offensive game plan was to attack the interior of the Iona defense.

Shimonovich was the key, as UH wanted to take advantage of his 250-pound presence in the post.

"He's a big presence in that middle," Wallace said. "Haim has a nice little jump hook, and if you get it down there, he can hit it."

Shimonovich scored 12 and English 11 during the decisive second half, when the 'Bows held off several Iona charges.

A sloppy first half featured seven lead changes. Despite shooting just 31 percent from the field (9-of-29) in the first half, Hawai'i took a 28-23 lead at intermission.

The 'Bows — and the crowd — received a boost from the unlikeliest of players, 5-4 walk-on Lance Takaki.

In an effort to protect starting point guard Mark Campbell from picking up a third foul, Wallace inserted Takaki into the game for the final minute of the half. Takaki responded with a short baseline jump shot that sent the crowd into a frenzy with 21 seconds remaining.

"He wasn't intimidated," Wallace said of the seldom-used junior. "And he's a hero in the locker room right now."

On Iona's final possession of the half, Takaki and Gaels' guard Solomon Brown collided, with Takaki receiving a gash above his right eye.

UH never lost the lead in the second half, although Iona threatened throughout.

English was particularly effective in the second half with his slashing drives to the basket.

"My jump shot wasn't going, so I knew I had to drive and penetrate," he said. "I was just looking for openings and trying to get that first step on my defender."

English also finished with game-highs of eight rebounds and seven assists.

When English wasn't taking the ball to the basket, the 'Bows were clearing the way for Shimonovich.

"He was a beast," English said.

Two Iona post players — Kenya Carruthers and Greg Jenkins — fouled out, with most of those fouls committed against Shimonovich.

"I was just trying to get my position," said Shimonovich, who also supplied five blocked shots. "It was just a matter of getting the ball and trying to make baskets."

Iona tied the score at 30 early in the second half, but UH then went on a 7-0 surge to take a lead it would never relinquish.

Iona got as close as 51-48, but the 'Bows reeled off another 7-0 run to put the game away.

After its dismal shooting in the first half, UH shot 55 percent (11-of-20) in the second half.

Interestingly, the 'Bows played the final 10 minutes of the game with leading scorer Predrag Savovic on the bench — by Wallace's choice.

"We got the lead and we were maintaining it," Wallace said. "We didn't have to have his offense, so I went with defense."

Savovic finished with 11 points in 20 minutes.

Iona forwards Courtney Brown and Dyree Wilson finished with four and two points, respectively. They combined for 32 in Iona's first-round victory over Holy Cross Wednesday.

"They struggled," Ruland said. "But we all did."

UH will play in the championship game for the third consecutive year. Georgia, which won the Rainbow Classic in 1996, is not ranked in either of the major polls, but is No. 10 in the Ratings Percentage Index.

Iona, which will play for third place, fell to 3-7.