'Bows edge Saint Louis to remain undefeated

By Matt Herb
Special to The Advertiser

ST. LOUIS — It's cold and it's far, far from home. Other than that, there's a lot to be said for these Midwestern road trips.

Matt Gipson, left, and Jeff Blackett enjoy a victory hug after Hawai'i improved to 4-0. James Finley • Associated Press

Venturing four time zones from their Manoa campus, a trip so ambitious that the team left on Tuesday to get acclimated for a Saturday game, the Rainbow Warriors struggled to shake off the lethargy brought on by a 10-hour flight and a dose of winter weather.

Among the weary road Warriors was junior forward Julian Sensley. Accustomed to heat — the team's gym is so muggy that players' sneakers squish by the end of practice — he struggled at first, attempting five shots and making just one in an uncharacteristically quiet first half.

"It was a long trip up here," Sensley said. "We tried to get in early and get a lot of rest. But it's cold compared to Hawai'i. The air's a little thin to us, so we were kind of sucking wind out there. It took me a while to get adapted."

Once he did, though, Sensley was tough to stop. He scored 12 points in the second half and finished with 15 to lead the 'Bows, who rallied to stay unbeaten at 4-0.

Sensley scored with 15.2 seconds left to give Hawai'i its winning points. Driving past 6-foot-9 forward Izik Ohanon, he hit a layup that made it 53-52.

"In the second half, I came out hitting some shots," Sensley said. "We ran a play that isolated me on the low post, and I was able to get a shot."

Ohanon tried to atone at the other end. Left alone at the top of the key, he squared up and fired away, but his shot glanced off the rim. Tom Frericks tried for a putback but couldn't control the ball as time ran out on the Billikens (1-4).

"They had the wrong guy shooting," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "The big guy was the only guy open. If you have to take a chance, I guess he's the one you would want shooting the ball, not to put him down."

Sensley had 11 rebounds for the ninth double-double of his career, though the 'Bows were outrebounded by the smaller Billikens, 41-29. Matthew Gipson finished with 10 points and was the only other Hawai'i player to score in double figures.

Saint Louis guard Reggie Bryant led all scorers with 19 points. Ohanon added 10 points and 16 rebounds.

Bryant was the catalyst as Saint Louis used a 17-2 run to take control of the game early in the second half. He scored 10 points in the surge, which gave the Billikens a 42-33 lead with 10:29 remaining.

Bryant also contributed to a defensive clampdown that stifled the 'Bows. After a Sensley putback with 18:38 to play, Hawai'i went more than seven minutes without scoring.

But while the Billikens' slow-motion style of play kept the 'Bows bogged down, it didn't cause any panic on their bench. They had rallied in their two previous games, victories over Coastal Carolina and Southern Illinois, and figured they had another comeback in them.

"The entire momentum shifted their way and we were in a lull," Gipson said. "Jeff (Blackett) and Julian got us together and said, 'We're down nine with 10 minutes left. It's our time to go crazy again.' "

They did. The 'Bows answered with 10-0 run as Gipson scored on a layup to give Hawai'i the lead again, 43-42, with 6:04 left.

Neither team led by more than three the rest of the way. Saint Louis went up 52-51 on Bryant's final basket, a jumper with 34 seconds left. But the Billikens' lead disappeared on Sensley's drive to the basket.

Though they were playing far from home, the 'Bows did have a small rooting section scattered throughout the sparse crowd of 7,821.

Wallace is from nearby Jerseyville, Ill., and was eager to bring his team home so family and friends could come watch.

"I'm not going to be around this game too much longer, so I wanted to come home," Wallace said. "We had a couple of hundred people here, and it was fun for them to see it."

Senior guard Jake Sottos, whose fadeaway 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Hawai'i a 27-23 halftime lead, is from Monmouth, Ill. He brought a crowd of his own, numbering about 100.

Those fans left happy, which was the whole idea.

"I didn't want them to come here and watch us lose," Sottos said.