LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors opened up their 2010-11 basketball season with a decisive win as first-year coach Gib Arnold saw his team come away with a 77-59 victory over Montana State in the opening game of
LIHU‘E — The University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors opened up their 2010-11 basketball season with a decisive win as first-year coach Gib Arnold saw his team come away with a 77-59 victory over Montana State in the opening game of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic, Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
After going to the locker room knotted up at 32-32 at halftime, the Warriors shot 17 of 31 (54.8 percent) from the floor in the second half to build the comfortable margin.
Hiram Thompson was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including 3 for 3 from downtown.
Thompson also grabbed six rebound and dished out four assists in his 24 minutes of action.
Bo Barnes scored 19, follwed by 18 from Josten Thomas.
The Warriors struggled from the free-throw line all night, finishing just 9 for 20 (45 percent) in the game, but were able to use stingy defense to hold off their opponent.
Montana State was led by Bobby Howard’s 17 points. Erik Rush added 15.
As a team, Montana State shot 22 of 59 (37.3 percent) from the floor on the night.
UH dominated inside, outrebounding their opponent 44-30. The Warriors outscored Montana State 34-20 in the paint and had 16 second-chance points.
Arnold’s club will be looking to move to 2-0 as it takes on Cal State Fullerton tonight, tipping off at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Classic will finish off Monday, with UH ending the event on national television, taking on Central Michigan (11 p.m., ESPN).
