Posted at 7:38 p.m., Friday, December 23, 2005
Freshman sparks 'Bows past Northwestern State
Advertiser Staff
Freshman guard Hiram Thompson scored 15 points to spark an injury-plagued University of Hawai'i to a 80-76 basketball victory over Northwestern State in the third-place game of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.Hawai'i is 6-3. Northwestern State is 7-4.
Ahmet Gueye scored 18 points and Matthew Gipson and Matt Lojeski each scored 17 points for the Rainbow Warriors.
Prior to tonight, Thompson, from El Dorado Hills, Calif., scored three points in 7 minutes in two games this season.
Northwestern State used an 8-2 run to close to 77-76 with 20 seconds to go. Lojeski hit 1 of 2 free throws to give UH a 78-76 lead.
After the Demons' Luke Rogers missed a 3-point attempt, UH rebounded and Gipson was fouled with 1.9 seconds left. Gipson hit two free throws to seal the victory.
The Rainbow Warriors were down to eight scholarship players tonight after it was announced that Julian Sensley, UH's leading scorer, has a strained achilles and is expected to be sidelined for the next two weeks. Hawai'i coach Riley Wallace also announced that junior guard Bobby Nash would redshirt this season.
Sensley, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, sustained the injury in Wednesday's loss to Colorado State.
Sensley is averaging 16.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Prior to today, he had played in 70 consecutive games with Hawai'i.
Nash will redshirt this season because of a sprained right shoulder. He will have two seasons of eligibilty remaining.
Nash appeared in six games this season, averaging 6.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. He scored 11 in a reserve role against Colorado State on Wednesday.
"Little Matt" Gibson was also not in uniform today because of a staph infection.
