The Hawaii basketball team withstood a 3-point barrage and benefited from a tie-breaking tip to defeat Oakland 73-70 on Wednesday and claim third place in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH forward Gytis Nemeiksa blocked Isaiah Jones’ 3-point attempt as time expired in overtime to improve the ’Bows to 8-4 overall. Hawaii finished 2-1 in the eight-team tournament.
“It’s a tough one,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “Two overtime losses in a row. Those are hard to take.”
It was 70-all in overtime when UH guard Marcus Greene drove the lane and put up a shot that did not fall. UH post Harry Rouhliadeff maneuvered past Buru Nivalurua for the tip to give the ’Bows a 72-70 lead with 46 seconds to play. Kampe said Rouhliadeff should have been called for offensive goaltending, a ruling that would have allowed the play to be automatically reviewed.
“It should have been our ball with 40 seconds to go in overtime,” Kampe said. “I’ve had people who watched the replay tell me it was a blatant goaltend. I haven’t seen the replay. It sure looked like one to me. My problem is you call it … and then you review it. And if you’re wrong, the basket counts. You can’t make a mistake and not call it. You have to call it, and then go to the scorer’s table and look and go, ‘No, it was not goaltending and it’s two points,’ or ‘yes, it was goaltending.’ You can’t let a game be won or lost on something like that. That’s my problem.”
A video shot from the end line showed the ball might have been slightly off the rim and not above the cylinder when it was touched by Rouhliadeff.
Later, Jones missed a shot and Greene was fouled. Green hit one of two free throws to extend the ’Bows’ lead to 73-70 with 18 seconds to play.
The Grizzlies worked the ball to guard Malcolm Christie, who was 7-for-21 on 3s at that point. UH freshman Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, who came off the bench to play a season-high 28 minutes, was assigned to track Christie.
“A lot of conditioning,” Hunkin-Claytor said of guarding Christie. “You really have to run him off the line. He’s a really good player, a really good shooter. We guard the best we could and he put it up.”
But Christie’s 22nd 3-point shot, from the right side, was off the mark. Jones rebounded and went outside the arc on the left side. But Nemeiksa soared for his seventh block of the season as the horn sounded.
“When I saw (Christie) shooting a 3, I was like, ‘Damn, that’s not’s good,’” Nemeiksa said. “When I saw he didn’t make it, I was trying not to foul. They got an offensive rebound. We kept playing. We kept playing hard. We stayed tough. I got the block, it was good team defense.”
Nemeiksa led the ’Bows with 25 points, including 11-for-14 on free throws. Nemeiksa and Tanner Christensen, who fouled out with 2:35 left in the extra period, each had 11 rebounds.
The ’Bows contained forward Allen David Mukeba, who scored 18 and 20 points in the first two Classic games, including hitting all 10 of his shots against Oregon State in Monday’s semifinal. But Mukeba was in early foul trouble, and finished with four points on 1-for-6 shooting in 24 minutes before fouling out.
Kampe had to re-calibrate tactics, turning the offense inside out. Christie, who wears tinted goggles, hit seven of 22 3-point shots, several when he was off balance.
“The first three he made were ridiculous,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “Right in front of our bench. That was as well guarded as you could have.”
Ganot said the Warriors have been good in limiting 3-point attempts the past five years. But Ganot noted the Grizzlies are tall, well coached and have “snipers from 3. We were talking about a 40-minute cover. But easier said than done. One player got 22 (attempts) today. It ain’t easy.”
Kampe said: “You let shooters shoot. (Christie) made some big ones, but he didn’t have a great shooting night. When your best player (Mukeba) is in foul trouble and doesn’t get to do much, that’s what we had to do (launch 3s).”
Oakland point guard DQ Cole, who also was in foul trouble, scored two points on 1-for-7 shooting.
The ’Bows, who were outscored 7-0 to start the second half, trailed 54-46 with 7:45 to play. But they rallied with Hunkin-Claytor taking over the point, Rouhliadeff’s 15 points, and Nemeiksa’s versatility. Nemeiksa was held to one point against Nebraska in Monday’s semifinal. But Nemeiksa scored the ’Bows’ first 11 points on Wednesday.