Warrior Insider

The Warriors to Asia 2011 tour is supposed to be about bonding and gaining experience for the young Hawaii basketball team.

The Warriors have created some memorable experiences already.

The latest came on Tuesday night (China time) when the Warriors rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to defeat the Shenyang Panpan Dinosaurs, 72-71. The exhibition game was played before around 4,000 fans at Shenyang, China.

“This one is kind of special because you seem like you’re out of it,” Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold said. “You play quite poorly, no legs, that first half. For us to hold them to 23 points in the second half and guard like crazy … everybody came in and nobody quit. Which, as a coach, is great to see when your team finishes. We talk about being Warriors and the spirit of Warriors and we saw that tonight.”

Shaquille Stokes and Hauns Brereton each scored 21 points to lead the Warriors. Stokes scored 14 in the second half to spark the Hawaii rally.

“We wanted to come out there and fight,” Stokes said. “The coaches told us to come out and play defense. Worry about defense first and offense second … so we went out there and defended.”

Shenyang controlled the first half, and took a 48-30 lead at intermission. “We only scored 30, but it wasn’t the 30, it was the 48 we gave up. They scored on 12 of their last 13 possessions and I don’t think I’ve had a team that ever did that.”

But the Warriors chipped away in the third quarter, and entered the fourth quarter trailing by just four, 60-56. Hawaii then scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to take the lead, and the game stayed close the rest of the way.

“That’s one of the best things you can get when you play basketball – when you come together and come back and win as a team,” Brereton said. “We fought through one step at a time.”

A 3-pointer by Stokes gave Hawaii a 70-66 lead, and then the Warriors held off the Dinosaurs in the closing seconds.

Hawaii had a 72-71 lead when Shenyang had the ball for the final possession. The Dinosaurs could not get off a clean shot, and the Warriors celebrated the win as the final horn sounded.

Joston Thomas added 17 points – including 12 in the second half – for the Warriors.

“We put our hard hats on did what we had to do,” Thomas said. “Hats off to the coaching staff and the rest of the players. I was just another piece.”

Others who scored were Bobby Miles and Trevor Wiseman with four points each, Zane Johnson with three, and Davis Rozitis with two.

Arnold cited the play of Miles as a key to the rally. “Bobby’s pretty much been the catalyst of this team,” Arnold said. “They made their run when Bobby was sitting down. It doesn’t show up in stat sheets how important he is because he calms us, and he guards, and he gets us into offense.”

It was Hawaii’s second consecutive victory over the Dinosaurs, although the two games were played at different venues.

The Warriors went 3-2 in exhibition games while in China. “We could have easily lost them all,” Arnold said. “From game to game, we’ve gotten better which is great to see. We’ve improved and grown as a team and everybody’s done a heck of a job.”

The Warriors still have one more exhibition game remaining on the tour. It is scheduled for Saturday in Japan.

The Warriors will remain in China on Wednesday and Thursday for cultural activities, before heading to Japan on Friday.