Posted at 12:13 p.m., Thursday, March 10, 2005
UTEP put end to Rainbows, 80-62
Advertiser Staff
RENO, Nev. — The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was eliminated from the Western Athletic Conference Tournament today by Texas-El Paso, 80-62.The Miners led the quarterfinal game from start to finish and their lead was never really challenged in the second half.
The Rainbow Warriors completed their season at 16-13. UTEP, which advanced to tomorrow's semifinals, is 25-7.
Omar Thomas led four UTEP players in double-figure points with 21. Filiberto Rivera added 19, Jason Williams 18 and Miguel Ayala 10.
Julian Sensley and Bobby Nash led Hawai'i with 13 points each.
Williams scored 10 points in the opening minutes of the game, leading the Miners to a 14-4 lead.
Hawai'i never quite threatened after that and fell behind by as many as 13 in the first half. Williams had 15 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer just before the half ended, giving the Miners a 42-29 lead at intermission.
Hawai'i scored the first basket of the second half to pull within 10, but that was as close as it would get.
UTEP went on a 10-0 run late in the game to push its lead up to 74-52 with 3:56 remaining. Both teams put in its reserves shortly after that to close the game.
