Rainbow Warriors soar to 100-81 victory

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was in full flight for the Hawaiian Airlines Tip-Off Tournament over the weekend.

UH guard Mark Campbell is fouled by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Corey Lamkin during the Hawaiian Airlines Tip-Off Tournament final. Campbell had nine of UH's 27 assists. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The 'Bows went 2-0 in the tournament, winning by an average of 17.5 points per game.

"Who's going to step up? That was the big question mark for us," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "I said from day one that it's gotta be a committee."

And so the 'Bows showed the Islanders the meaning of 'ohana last night.

Six Hawai'i players scored in double-figures, every healthy player on the roster got in the game, and the team finished with 27 assists.

"Our offense is designed to have everybody score," UH junior guard Carl English said. "And we were passing the ball well and playing as a team. When we look for each other like that ... it's good basketball."

The 'Bows were once again led by center Haim Shimonovich. The 6-foot-10 junior scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and grabbed five rebounds, and was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

He also scored 18 in UH's season-opening victory over Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday. Last night, a cut opened above his right eye after he took an elbow from a TAM-CC defender midway through the first half (no foul was called), but that only seemed to inspire him.

"All preseason, I worked very hard to get ready to play," he said. "The guys pass me the ball so much, I can't miss those shots."

Led by Shimonovich and fellow "big men" Phil Martin and Tony Akpan, the 'Bows shot 60 percent (39-of-65) as a team, including 53 percent (10-of-18) from 3-point range.

English contributed 17 points, Martin 15, Jason Carter and Michael Kuebler 12 each, and Vaidotas Peciukas 10.

English also had a team-high seven rebounds and six assists. Senior captain Mark Campbell scored just three points but dished a team-high nine assists.

"I thought we played well together and some guys showed things that they haven't been showing in practice," Wallace said.

The low-post trio of Shimonovich, Martin and reserve Akpan combined to shoot 18-of-22.

"It's a great offense," said Martin, who shot 6-of-7 from the field. "You don't have to create your shot. The ball comes to you and you're ready to go."

Akpan finished with a career-high eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.

The Islanders made six of their first seven shots and stayed with the 'Bows early at 16-16. TAM-CC even held a short-lived 21-20 lead with 9:33 left in the first half.

From there, Hawai'i went on a 16-4 run to take a 36-25 lead it would not relinquish. The Islanders never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Hawai'i took a 50-36 advantage into halftime, and never allowed the Islanders to get within double-digits in the second half.

"We found out tonight what the big-time is all about," TAM-CC head coach Ronnie Arrow said. "We score 81 points and still lose by 19. That's an indication of how good Hawai'i really is."

As proof, the 'Bows attacked from all angles. With Shimonovich dominating the low post, the outside opened up. English drained four 3-pointers, Carter three and Kuebler two.

English and Kuebler joined Shimonovich on the all-tournament team.

"They have shooters and they have big players," Arrow said. "But their thing is they keep coming at you. They are very physical and they don't back down."

Even the scout team got into the act in the closing minute. Crowd favorite Lance Takaki made two free throws, Ryne Holliday made an impressive reverse lay-up, and freshman Ikaika Alama-Francis made the final free throw that gave Hawai'i 100 points for the first time since February 2001.

The 'Bows will not play again until a Dec. 9 home exhibition against Hawai'i-Hilo.

Brian Evans led TAM-CC (1-1) with 25 points, while Derrick Murphy added 23.

• Arkansas-Little Rock 56, Cal State Fullerton 43: Jibrahn Ike scored 19 points to lead the Trojans over the Titans for third place.

Ike shot 7-for-9 from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Mark Green added nine points and nine rebounds for UALR (1-1).