Men's Basketball Triumphs Over Oakland In Exhilarating OT Win

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Men's Basketball Triumphs Over Oakland In Exhilarating OT Win

Next Game: UC Santa Barbara 1/2/2025 | 7:00 P.M. HT Spectrum Sports ESPN Honolulu Jan. 02 (Thu) / 7:00 P.M. HT UC Santa Barbara History HONOLULU – in a Christmas Day thriller, the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team captured third place in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a 73-70 overtime win over […]

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UC Santa Barbara
1/2/2025 | 7:00 P.M. HT

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ESPN Honolulu

Jan. 02 (Thu) / 7:00 P.M. HT

UC Santa Barbara

History

HONOLULU – in a Christmas Day thriller, the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team captured third place in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a 73-70 overtime win over Oakland at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Nemeiksa poured in a career-high 25 points and added 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Rouhliadeff added career-high 15 points – 11 of which came in the second half and overtime – while Ryan Rapp finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.The game was back-and-forth from the get go. After being held to just one point on 0-of-5 shooting in UH’s loss versus Nebraska, Nemeiksa came out with a vengeance. The senior forward scored the team’s first 11 points and 17 in all in the first half to help UH stake a 32-25 lead at the break. UH trailed 23-21 with 4:32 left but closed out on a 12-2 run to take a seven-point advantage into the locker room. Christmas Day Results
7th Place: Murray State 81, Loyola Chicago 78
5th Place: Charleston 84, Charlotte 81
3rd Place: Hawaii 73, Oakland 70 (OT)
Championship: Oregon State vs. Nebraska, 3:30 p.m.

The second half was more of the same with the teams trading runs. Oakland went on a 9-0 run coming out of the locker room to reclaim the lead before the ‘Bows answered with eight straight to go back up by six. The Grizzlies then went on separate 7-0 and 8-0 spurts to take a 54-46 lead at the 7:46 mark ahead of the UH comeback. After Rouhliadeff’s tip-in and a Marcus Greene free throw with 18 seconds left, Oakland had one last possession. But Christie’s three-point attempt from the wing was off the mark and Isaiah Jones, who grabbed the offensive rebound, had one last gasp with a three-point attempt of his own, but it was denied by Nemeiksa’s big block.In overtime Rapp drilled a three-pointer on UH’s first possession. UH would not trail again, though the game was tied for a second and final time in overtime when Malcolm Christie, who had a game-high 27 points for the Golden Grizzlies, drilled a three-pointer with 1:36 left. UH held Oakland to just 35 percent for the game, including 1-of-8 shooting in overtime, and out-rebounded the Grizzlies, 44-34. In a game that featured 17 ties and 20 lead changes, the Rainbow Warriors had the final say. Harry Rouhliadeff had a go-ahead tip-in with 46 seconds left in overtime and Gytis Nemeiksa blocked a game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer to seal the victory.UH forced overtime by overcoming an eight-point second-half deficit with the help of an extended 13-3 run over a five-minute stretch ending at the two-minute mark. The two teams traded buckets down the stretch before a pair of Tanner Christensen free throws with 4.7 seconds left tied it at 64.#HawaiiMBBThe Rainbow Warriors will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 2 when they host UC Santa Barbara in a Big West contest. Tipoff is 7:00 p.m. at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.