Pride at stake for BYUH, Hawai'i

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

You can pretty much throw the exhibition title out of tomorrow's game between the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team and Brigham Young-Hawai'i.

Tomorrow's game at the Stan Sheriff Center is officially an exhibition for the Rainbow Warriors only. For the Seasiders, it is the official season opener.

Both teams are taking a must-win approach.

"If they were to beat us, it would make their season," said UH senior forward Paul Jesinskis, who is expected to start tomorrow. "There's a lot of pride at stake; one of those situations where they're going all out to beat us and we're going all out to make sure they don't."

The 'Bows and Seasiders last met in 1982, and BYUH head coach Ken Wagner said he did not want to pass on the opportunity to play UH even if it meant counting it as an official game.

"We already had two exhibitions on our schedule, which is the maximum," Wagner said. "But when (UH) called looking for a game, we were all for it. It's a great opportunity for our kids to play in that arena and against that team."

The Seasiders are a NCAA Division II program that went 19-4 last season. Two starters return from that team, and the addition of two NCAA Division I transfers should make BYUH a contender in the Pacific West Conference again.

"Last year we were big, even by Division I standards," Wagner said. "We're a little smaller this year so we're still trying to figure out what kind of team we will be."

The Seasiders feature three NCAA-I transfers in their starting lineup: Jake Chrisman (6-9 forward from Brigham Young), Michael Stowell (6-4 shooting guard from Utah State) and Shawn Opunui (6-1 point guard from BYU).

Chrisman had 31 points and 10 rebounds in BYUH's exhibition victory over Song Kyun Kwan (Korea) on Friday; Stowell added 20 points; Opunui contributed 12 points and nine assists.

"All those (Division II) teams can play," said UH forward Julian Sensley, who will play his first game as Rainbow Warrior tomorrow. "But everybody looks at it like we're supposed to beat them anyway. It's not going to be that easy."

The tentative starting UH lineup according to Wallace: Jason Carter at point guard, Michael Kuebler at shooting guard, Sensley at small forward, Phil Martin at power forward, and Jesinskis at center.

"I don't think it matters who starts," said Jesinskis, who redshirted last season because of a broken wrist. "We have a lot of players at each position, and we have to play as a team."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.