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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, December 10, 2009

UH rallies past Chaminade


By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai'i's Paul Campbell shoots over Chaminade's Matt Cousins in the first half at Stan Sheriff Center.

REBECCA BREYER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai'i's Jeremy Lay defends against Chaminade point guard Steven Bennett in the first half at Stan Sheriff Center.

REBECCA BREYER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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You know that pesky kid from down the street who comes into your house and makes a mess?

That's kind of what the University of Hawai'i had to deal with in a 70-61 victory over Chaminade last night.

The Rainbow Warriors cleaned up the mess just in time before sending the NCAA Division II Silverswords home — just down the street.

"We were confident we were going to win the game, but we kind of took it easy in the beginning," Hawai'i point guard Hiram Thompson said. "Then we came together and made an effort to give it our everything that second half."

A crowd of 2,314 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the 'Bows improve to 4-4 with their second consecutive win.

Chaminade dropped to 1-4, with all four losses to NCAA-I teams.

The 'Bows trailed for the first 36 minutes, including a 13-point deficit at halftime. Hawai'i did not take the lead until 3:55 remained in the game.

Roderick Flemings scored all 18 of his points in the second half to lead the Hawai'i rally.

"I thought we picked up the pace of the game (in the second half), started to push a little more," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "Then we woke Rod Flemings up."

Flemings, who leads Hawai'i with 16.0 points per game, went scoreless in the first half. In the second half, he moved to the low post and scored nine of the 'Bows' first 12 points of the half.

"I feel like I had a mismatch in the post, so that's just a play Coach Nash called," Flemings said. "Hiram (Thompson) just got it to me, my teammates just got it to me in the post a lot in the second half, and I found my shot a little more."

Hawai'i closed the game with a 21-4 run in the final 6:33. Flemings scored seven during that final stretch.

"We moved him down to where he's more comfortable, down on that block," Nash said of Flemings. "And once we got him going, he stepped out and hit a couple jumpers on the perimeter."

Flemings also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, including eight in the second half.

Thompson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds — his career-highs in both categories.

"You can't speak enough about the kind of work that Hiram did tonight," Nash said.

Thompson played half the game at point guard, and half the game at small forward.

After Chaminade torched the Hawai'i defense for nine 3-pointers in the first half, the 'Bows went to a smaller lineup in the second half. Guards Thompson, Dwain Williams and Jeremy Lay started together alongside forwards Flemings and Adhar Mayen.

"I thought (Chaminade) did a nice job of getting open and shooting 3's, so we decided to go a little smaller in the second half to kind of match up with them and be closer to their shooters," Nash said.

The first half was all Chaminade.

The Silverswords raced to a 9-2 lead to start the game, and eventually took a 38-25 lead at intermission.

The 'Swords went 9 of 19 from 3-point range in the first half, but just 1 of 14 in the second half.

"We don't play a ton of guys, so I think maybe our legs got tired in the second half," Chaminade head coach Matt Mahar said. "But I don't think it was all on us. Hawai'i really turned it up a notch and got out on our shooters a little more."

The 'Bows finally passed Chaminade at 60-59 with 3:55 remaining on two free throws by Mayen.

A technical foul on Chaminade's Shane Hanson for slamming the basketball late in the second half proved costly. Hawai'i's Thompson made the ensuing two free throws to cut the Chaminade lead to 59-58. The 'Bows then took the lead moments later.

"I would have liked to see it slide, and have the ref just talk to (Hanson), especially at that point of a game like this," Mahar said. "It obviously hurt us. It was a big momentum shift."

It also hurt the 'Swords to lose guard Cartier Carter to a knee injury late in the second half. Carter had eight points and five rebounds, and threw down a highlight reel dunk in the first half.

Mahar said there was ligament damage, and Carter will likely be out for the rest of the season.

Hanson led the 'Swords with 18 points. He hit four 3's, all in the first half.

Steven Bennett, an exciting 5-foot-6 point guard, added 15 points and eight assists.

"We're a young team, so this was a good showing for us," Mahar said.

After the game, Nash called both teams to the center of the court for a group huddle.

"We live in this town together and I certainly have a lot of respect for all the coaches in the state, and I just wanted to let them know that we really appreciated them coming over," Nash said.

Hawai'i played without starting forward and leading rebounder Petras Balocka, who sat out with an ankle injury. He is expected to return for Hawai'i's next game — Saturday against Chicago State.

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