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Video update: Warriors win!

In any country, in any language, a win still feels like a win.

The Hawaii basketball team got one in China on Sunday, August 14, in the form of an 86-71 victory over the Qingdao Eagles.

“I’ve said from day 1, this (trip) isn’t about wins and losses – it’s more about the experience,” Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold said. “But anytime you got officials and a clock and you’re keeping score, you want to win.”

The exhibition game was played before around 1,000 fans at Weifang, China. It was also the second time in three nights that the Warriors faced the Eagles. Qingdao won the opener, 81-80, at a different arena in Gao Mi, China, two nights earlier.

The Warriors used the video of that first game to study the tendencies of the Chinese players, and it worked to near perfection in the rematch.

“Coaches had the team scouted, and we followed the gameplan,” sophomore forward Davis Rozitis said. “It was easy as ABC.”

Rozitis and Joston Thomas led the Warriors with 19 points each. Most of their points came on layups or dunks.

“We were new to this overseas game in China so we did a little scouting and came out with a little better understanding of how to play these guys and what we should do to get a win,” Thomas said. “We just did a great job defending. If it wasn’t for our defense, I wouldn’t have got those breakaways.”

Li Gen, a 6-foot-5 forward who is Qingdao’s top player, was held to 13 points. He scored 33 when the Eagles beat the Warriors two nights earlier.

Hawaii raced to a 19-7 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. By halftime, the Warriors were ahead, 44-25. The Eagles never really threatened in the second half.

“A scout is a huge part of what we do in our game prep in how we guard,” Arnold said. “It’s a big deal in how we guard and I think it showed on our defensive end.”

Two other Warriors reached double-figure points: Hauns Brereton with 14, and Shaquille Stokes with 12.

Others who scored were Bobby Miles and Trevor Wiseman with nine each, and Zane Johnson with four.

Johnson, the leading scorer from last season, saw his first game action of the Asia trip. He sat out the first two losses with an ankle injury. He only played limited minutes in this win and said his ankle was still sore after the game.

“The thing I like … is we’ve been getting a little bit better and a little bit better and a little bit better, and that’s been huge,” Arnold said. “I told them we got three more games to go so let’s just keep that going.”

Freshman Brandon Jawato sat out the game because he was feeling sick.

Prior to the game, the Warriors participated in a 10-minute scrimmage with an amateur team as part of a sponsorship agreement.

“Maybe it got us into a nice little flow, so maybe we’ll keep doing that as a tradition,” Arnold joked.

2 Comments

  1. we can’t see the whole game but i don’t give the warriors that much credit as the chinese play worst then summer league D from what i seen but a win is a win good job

  2. “Most of their points came on layups or dunk.” Just as it should be for those two, although they’ve both shown they step outside and hit the jumper. Hope that Joston just keeps it within reasonable range; not from 3 as he had a tendency to do last season. He’s come back leaner, and he and Rozitis can get up and down the floor very well. I hope Joston puts his mind, and talents to it, and has the kind of monster season he’s shown flashes of. Thanks for the video, Dayton. KHON thanks you, too.

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