Sensley makes grandma proud
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
RUSTON, La. — Grandmothers are supposed to spoil their grandchildren with treats, not the other way around.
But that's exactly what Julian Sensley did last night in leading the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team to a 67-60 victory over Louisiana Tech.
Playing basketball before his grandmother, Shirley Sensley, for the first time in more than five years, Julian treated her to one of the best games of his UH career. The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward scored a career-high 19 points on 9 of 11 shooting, and had six rebounds and two assists.
"I loved it," Shirley Sensley said. "We were screaming and yelling. We kept screaming at Julian to look at us, but I know he was concentrating on the game. It just felt so good yelling his name, I couldn't help myself."
Shirley Sensley and a handful of other relatives made a 5-hour, 30-minute, cross-state drive from New Orleans to Ruston to watch Julian yesterday. Julian was born in New Orleans, but was raised in Kailua.
Prior to yesterday, the last — and only — time Shirley saw Julian play basketball was when he was at Kalaheo High.
"I knew he was good," she said. "But it did my heart good to see him doing so well for himself."
For a while, Julian was afraid his family made a wasted trip. He scored only four points in the first half, and was limited to 10 minutes after committing two early fouls.
"Both fouls were ticky-tack, so it was real frustrating," he said. "But I kept my head in it. I knew I would be back in the second half."
During a seven-minute stretch of the second half, he shot 6 of 6 from the field to help Hawai'i build an insurmountable lead. He scored seven during a 12-0 surge that put the 'Bows in control.
More impressive, his shots came from a variety of angles — slam dunks, put-backs and fade-aways from 15 feet.
"He's so tough for the other team to guard because he's 6-9, 235 pounds and he's agile," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "He gives us a completely different look."
Streak ends: Hawai'i forward Phil Martin made his first four free throws yesterday, but then missed his fifth attempt. It snapped a string of 19 consecutive free throws made. The UH record is 28 set by Reggie Carter during the 1975-76 season.
Aloha spirit: Plastic lei were passed out to most of the 2,679 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center yesterday. It was the second-largest crowd of the season for Louisiana Tech.
Of all the places ... : Hawai'i beat Texas Southern, 97-67, a month ago in the Stan Sheriff Center. The last two days, those two teams shared the Hampton Inn in Ruston.
Texas Southern, which is from Houston, played at nearby Grambling yesterday.
Coming home: Hawai'i is scheduled to return to Honolulu today. The 'Bows, who are in sole possession of second place in the WAC (a half-game behind Fresno State), will continue conference play this week with home games against Texas-El Paso on Thursday and Boise State on Saturday.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
