Gytis Nemeiksa scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Harry Rouhliadeff added 12 points and five boards Saturday night to help Hawai’i defeat visiting Cal State Fullerton, 69-59, in Big West Conference men’s basketball action.
An announced crowd of 4,374 (tickets issued) watched Isaac Finlinson add a season-high 11 points and five rebounds off the bench as the Warriors improved to 8-2 overall, and 2-0 in league play. Landon Seaman scored a game-high 17 points and Bryce Cofield added 16 points for the Titans, who fell to 3-7, 0-2.
The game ended the Big West’s “Bold Week,” an early start to conference play which will resume in January.
UH built a 39-25 lead at halftime after hitting on 8 of 21 attempts from 3-point range. Dre Bullock’s 3-pointer with 13:19 remaining in the first half ignited a 14-3 run that stretched a one-point lead into a 22-10 advantage capped by Rouhliadeff’s triple four minutes later.
Cal State Fullerton got as close as 53-47 on Seaman’s jumper midway through the second half, but Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson answered with a free throw with 8:51 left to start a 7-0 run culminating in Finlinson’s layup to extend the lead to 60-47 with 6:32 on the clock, and a layup by Nemeiksa with 2:51 remaining pushed it to 67-51, effectively sealing the victory.
The Warriors return to the court Wednesday for a non conference home game against UH Hilo.