It turns out “Manoa Magic” is not limited to the University of Hawai’i baseball team.
On another magical night Saturday, the UH men’s basketball team celebrated the homecoming and No. 23 jersey retirement of legendary former player Anthony “AC” Carter, then delivered an exhilarating 78-75 overtime victory against visiting UC Santa Barbara.
An extremely vocal season-high crowd of 8,103 in BankOh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Harry Rouhliadeff send the game into OT with a tip-in just two seconds before the end of regulation, and then saw Dre Bullock secure a defensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer at the final horn as the Warriors snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 19-7 overall and 11-5 in the Big West Conference.
UH is now in a three-way tie for first place with UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge, both also at 11-5. The Gauchos fell to 17-11 and 10-7, into a three-way tie for fourth with UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton, also both 10-7.
“This one is one I’ll never forget,” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “And I’ve heard that a lot of times (tonight), all things considered, I’ve heard fans say it, players say it, coaches say it, alums say it. I know I’ve been saying the power of the Hawai’i fan base, and No. 1 — on behalf of me, my family, our kids, our alums — I cannot thank (enough) the power of the Hawai’i fan base for the love and passion and emotion they showed in there. We were coming off a tough loss (to Cal Poly on Thursday, 86-75) … and give Santa Barbara a lot of credit, that was a heck of a game to be play in, coach in, be a part of. It wasn’t healthy, but it didn’t matter. You could tell you’re part of two teams that are really good, that have a lot of pride.”
The Gauchos led throughout much of the second half and were up, 66-61, with 3:11 remaining in regulation after a jump hook by center Hosana Kitenge. Hawai’i tied it at 66-66 on Rouhliadeff’s short jumper with 38 seconds on the clock, but UCSB went back up, 68-66, on Marvin McGhee IV’s layup with just seven ticks left.
Hunter Erickson then drove along the left baseline and missed a layup, but Rouhliadeff was there for the tip-in to tie it at 68-68 with 0:02 showing on the clock.
A 70-foot Hail Mary shot by Gauchos guard Aidan Mahaney then glanced off the rim as time expired, forcing overtime.
In the extra period, UC Santa Barbara took a 74-73 lead on Kitenge’s layup with 2:45 remaining, but Isaiah Kerr answered with a driving layup at the other end to put the Warriors ahead for good at 75-74 with 1:59 left. After Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson’s free throw pushed the lead to 78-75 with 1:02 on the clock, the Gauchos had one last chance with 6.1 ticks remaining.
But CJ Shaw missed on his 3-point attempt from the left wing, and Bullock secured the rebound as the final horn sounded off.
More details to come.