Several Rainbows shine in WAC title-clinching effort
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
FRESNO, Calif. — The skies were surprisingly clear over the city last night, yet very few stars were visible.
Maybe that's because they were all in the Selland Arena, playing for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.
Several Rainbow Warriors contributed to a Western Athletic Conference championship-clinching 82-79 victory over Fresno State last night.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the 'Bows held a private meeting Friday night to "find that family spirit again," according to head coach Riley Wallace.
"It wasn't that this team was breaking up," Wallace said. "We were just getting away from some of the things that got us to this point."
Wallace said the meeting was "the best we've had all year," because the problems of Thursday's 79-69 loss at Nevada were discussed openly.
"When this team plays together and everybody accepts their role, we're hard to beat," Wallace said.
Some of the UH stars to emerge last night were spectacular. Others were subtle.
Among them:
• Carl English, a 6-foot-5 sophomore who played in injured star Predrag Savovic's shooting guard position. He scored a career-high 33 points, including 27 in one of those you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it first halves.
"We stepped it up before with (Savovic) out," said English, who shot 10-of-17 from the field, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range. "That's how a team plays. If you can step it up when the key guy is out, it shows the quality and heart of the program."
English played the entire 40 minutes.
"In the first half, he looked like Jerry West," said Fresno State head coach Jerry Tarkanian. "English just took it on his shoulders and wasn't going to let them lose. He was absolutely sensational."
• Mike McIntyre, a 6-3 senior guard who came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points, including a career-high seven 3-pointers.
"With Savo out, that's a bulk of scoring out," McIntyre said of Savovic's team-leading 19.4 scoring average. "Somebody had to step up. Carl knew we needed that, and I knew that once I came in I had to contribute where ever I could. We both were hot."
McIntyre scored 16 in the second half, including a 3-pointer with 33.4 seconds remaining that proved to be the game-clinching shot.
• Mark Campbell, a 6-4 junior point guard who ran UH's flex-motion offense to near perfection. He dished out 10 assists with only one turnover.
• Tony Akpan, a 6-8 freshman forward, and one of the least likely 'Bows to make this list.
A seldom-used reserve, Akpan played a season-high 22 minutes in place of starting center Haim Shimonovich, who was limited to 10 minutes because of foul trouble.
Akpan's task? Defend Fresno State center Melvin Ely, an All-America candidate regarded as the best post player in the WAC.
"If I could pick one, Tony would be the Player of the Game," Wallace said. "To think that a freshman who hasn't played very many minutes this year — mostly because he's been terrible in practice — could come in and do what he did was the story of the game."
Akpan finished with two points on an awkward layup over Ely, and five rebounds. But his biggest contribution was "making Ely work his butt off for every shot."
Ely finished with 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting, and 12 rebounds.
• Phil Martin, a 6-8 sophomore forward who scored 10 points and also played some unexpected defense against Ely because of Shimonovich's foul trouble.
NOTES: K5 announced that it would show the UH men's quarterfinal game, and semifinal game if they advance in the WAC basketball tournament. The men's final will be shown on ESPN2. K5 will show the Wahine if they are in a WAC semifinal game. The women's final will be on Fox Sports Net Southwest.
