Warrior Insider

Zigmars Raimo banked in an eight-tfooter from the right flank with 40 seconds remaining tonight to cap an 18-point comeback and lift Hawai’i to a pulsating 80-75 victory over CSUN in thrilling Big West Conference men’s basketball action.

A vocal season-best crowd of 5,311 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Eddie Stansberry score 22 points and Raimo add 20 points as the Warriors rallied from a 65-48 deficit in the final 11 minutes to improve to 14-6 overall and 5-1 in the Big West. Famine Diane scored a game-high 23 points, Elijah Harmless added 16 points and Terrell Gomez contributed 13 points for the Matadors, who fell to 9-15, 4-4.

After Diane sank a fadeaway mid-range jumper from the right flank to give CSUN a 65-47 lead with 11:07 remaining, UH roared back and closed it to 75-74 on Raimo’s layup with 2:17 left, then took possession when the shot clock expired on the Matadors with 1:07 remaining. After a timeout, the Warriors worked the ball inside to Raimo, who banked in the go-ahead basket.

Hawai’i then grabbed the rebound after Gomez missed a 3-point attempt from the right corner on CSUN’s next possession, and Justin Webster (17 points) sank both free throws with 13 ticks left to make it 78-75. On the Matadors’ final possession, Diane was called for traveling after getting stuck near the 3-point line, and Justin Hemsley closed out the scoring with a slam dunk with 1.1 seconds remaining.

More details, including video highlights and interviews, will be posted later.

Big West Conference
Saturday’s Results
at UC Irvine 91, Cal State Fullerton 61
UC Santa Barbara 87, at Long Beach State 62
at UC Davis 66, Cal Poly 51
at Hawai’i 80, CSUN 75