Lifted by a strong second half and guard Ryan Rapp’s outstanding outside shooting, Hawai’i pulled away from Texas A&M -Corpus Christi and held off the Islanders, 71-62, in nonconference men’s basketball action Saturday night.
A crowd of 3,001 in SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center watched guard Ryan Rapp score a game-high 19 points — including a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range — as the Warriors improved to 6-3. Garry Clark and Shilo Jackson each scored 11 points to lead the Islanders, who fell to 6-4.
After a somewhat sloppy first half with multiple turnovers on both sides, the teams went into the break tied at 28-28. UH then started the second half with a 14-3 run and led, 42-31, after Rapp’s 3-pointer four and a half minutes in.
But TAMCC clawed back and closed it to 47-46 after a putback by Dian Wright-Ford with just under eight minutes remaining. The Warriors got some separation again and went ahead, 59-48, on another Rapp triple with 5:30 left, and the Islanders could not get closer than six points the rest of the way.
“I thought we hung in there in the first half, and then we really simplified some things offensively and stepped up defensively and again on the boards (in the second half),” Hawai’i coach Eran Ganot said in a postgame radio interview. “I thought we had so many unforced turnovers in the first half … so I think the big thing in the second half, was because their (ball) pressure was so good, we wanted to simplify how long it took us to enter our offense. There’s a lot of actions we do, and some of them take a little longer, so we kind of scratched that and made quick entries, simplified it.”
The Warriors made 10 turnovers in the first half, and six in the second. They also won the overall rebounding battle, 36-25.
Marcus Greene added 15 points and Gytis Nemeiksa contributed 14 points for UH, which shot 51.1 percent (24 of 47) from the field, including 40 percent (8 for 20) from beyond the arc.
Rapp, who began the season recovering from a broken hand, made 7 of 8 shots overall, grabbed six rebounds, made three assists and had one steal in 30-plus minutes off the bench. The 19 points and five 3-pointers represent career-highs.
“It would be a disservice to say it was just his 3’s — it was his leadership, his presence, his effort on the glass,” Ganot said. “It was great to see, and to see him happy.”