Reclaiming its strength at home, the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team turned back pesky Cal State Bakersfield, 81-70, Saturday night in Big West Conference action.
A crowd of 3,196 in SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Tanner Christensen score 17 points and grab nine rebounds and Gytis Nemeiksa add another 17 points to help the Warriors improve to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in league play. Jemel Jones scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed nine boards and Corey Stephenson added 18 points for the Road Runners, who fell to 9-10, 3-4.
UH struck early and often, filling up the nets to gain leads of 5-0, 12-4 and 15-6 in the first six minutes, then stretched it to 23-11 on Nemeiksa’s putback midway through the first half. CSUB ended the period with five straight points to cut the deficit to 42-37 at the break, then went on an 8-0 run capped by Odenewu’s two free throws to cut it to 52-49 with 11:23 remaining in the game.
Four minutes later, the Road Runners trimmed the deficit to just one point at 57-56 on Jones’ turnaround jumper, and they kept it close at 70-65 with just under three minutes to play. But the Warriors answered with six straight points capped by Ryan Rapp’s free throw to make it 76-65 with a minute left to effectively seal the victory.
“This was one of the more challenging ones,” Hawai’i coach Eran Ganot said in a postgame radio interview. “We were playing a Bakersfield team that is physical and rebounds, gets to the (free throw) line and had a week to prepare. I just thought we set the tone. (The Road Runners) fought back, and our guys hung in there. This is league play, and you gotta find your way and have your composure.
“We always (want) that passion and composure, it’s really hard, but good teams find a balance there.”
The Warriors held Cal State Bakersfield to just 37.9 percent shooting (25 of 66) from the field, including only 4 of 15 (26.7 percent) from 3-point range. By contrast, UH shot 53.5 percent (23 of 43) overall and 52.9 percent (9 of 17) from beyond the arc.
The Warriors also won on the boards, 34 rebounds to 27, and made 26 of 34 free throws (76.5 percent).
“We shot the ball well from the line, shot it really well from the line late,” Ganot said. “Tanner was great again from the free throw line (11 of 13), which is a great luxury to have, when all the guys out there can shoot it. We got to the line, and that’s a big part of being successful.”
Ganot said the biggest change from Thursday night’s disappointing 83-60 loss to Cal State Northridge was the team’s ability to respond quickly.
“We probably hadn’t get hit in the mouth like that (against CSUN) yet this year, and we didn’t respond,” Ganot said. “But tonight when (Bakersfield) threw their punches, we hung in there. We all say we don’t want to learn the hard way, but sometimes we do learn the hard way. We certainly learned it the other day. In a quick turnaround, the next day they just shifted gears, (said) we own it, we move forward and give ourselves a chance. I’m proud of them.”
Big West Conference Standings
UC Irvine 7-0
UC San Diego 5-2
UC Davis 5-3
UC Santa Barbara 4-3
Cal State Northridge 4-3
HAWAI’I 4-3
UC Riverside 4-3
Cal State Bakersfield 3-4
Long Beach State 3-4
Cal State Fullerton 1-7
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 0-8