LIHU‘E — Four players contributed at least a dozen points in an 83-58 win for the Warriors over Chicago State, Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center on O‘ahu.
Hawai‘i used a 50-32 second half to pull away and move the team over the .500 mark to 5-4 on the season.
Roderick Flemings led the way with 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting in 32 minutes of action. He also added six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
With his shot not falling, Hiram Thompson was the playmaker for the evening, dishing out nine assists to go along with his four points and three steals.
Dwain Williams had 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Petras Balocka chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds. Adhar Mayen had 12 points.
The Warriors held Chicago St. to just 39 percent shooting for the night (23 of 59), while shooting 46 percent (25 of 54). They also nailed 8 of 17 from long range, a 47 percent clip.
The turnover battle and team fouls were where Hawai‘i managed to pull away.
Chicago St. turned it over 19 times to Hawai‘i’s 11.
The Warriors, like in their previous win, sealed the deal at the charity stripe as Chicago St. was in the double bonus in each half and committed 26 fouls in the game.
The Warriors took advantage by knocking down 25 of 35 free-throw attempts (71 percent), while Chicago St. made just 8 of 12 from the line (67 percent).
Christian Wall led Chicago St. with 20 points, followed by Carl Montgomery with 13.
The win makes three straight for Hawai‘i, which will now get a 10-day break before the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic begins on Dec. 22. The Warriors will take on College of Charleston at 7:30 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
There will be a first-round quadruple-header that day, with Northeastern taking on St. Mary’s at 10 a.m., followed by Western Michigan vs. USC at 12 p.m. and SMU vs. UNLV at 5:30 p.m.
After the tournament, Hawai‘i still has three more home games before setting off for the Mainland.
Northwestern State visits on Dec. 28, followed by the beginning of conference play with Idaho on Jan. 2 and Boise State on Jan. 4. All games are scheduled to have 7:05 p.m. tip-off times.
