CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament: Hawaii wins opening round game over Portland

March 15, 2011

Hawaii wins opening round game over Portland

Box Score

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team (19-12) returned to the postseason with a bang, defeating Portland 76-64 in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Tuesday at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH advances and will host a second round game on Saturday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m.

UH's opponent will be determined after Wednesday's Idaho-San Francisco first-round matchup. The 'Bows will play USF if the Dons defeat Idaho and will face Air Force in the event of a USF loss.

Making its first postseason appearance since 2004, the 'Bows earned the right for another game after a solid effort on both ends of the court against a 20-win Portland squad (20-12). UH muscled its way to 39 free throw attempts on offense while clamping down on the Pilots, who entered the game as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country at better than 41 percent. Portland shot just 35 percent from the game and nailed just 8-of-26 three-pointers (31 percent).

Zane Johnson led four players in double digits with 19 points, including 15 in the first half to help UH take a six-point lead in the locker room. Johnson nailed all 10 of his free throw attempts and his three-pointer midway through the first half tied him with Michael Kuebler for the single-season record (97).

While Johnson was the first-half offensive story for UH, Jeremiah Ostrowski was the second-half spark plug scoring 12 of his points after the break to finish with a career-high 17 points. Meanwhile the Rainbow Warriors got a pair of double-double performances from its front court of Bill Amis (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Vander Joaquim (11 points, 10 rebounds). Amis also added five steals and three blocks on the defensive end.

Both teams entered the game coming off disappointing losses in their respective conference tournaments and it was a frantic first half of action as the squads came out with high energy. UH missed eight of its first nine shots and fell behind by seven points on a pair of occasions. However, UH went on a 25-12 run to take a 38-32 lead at the break.

UH broke the game open at the beginning of the second half scoring eight unanswered points out of the locker room to take a 46-32 less than three minutes into the second half. The 'Bows would maintain a double-digit lead for most of the second half, building its lead to as many as 17 points and staving off all attempts of a Portland comeback.
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