Warrior Insider

The Inside Source for Hawaii Men's Basketball
Search

Texas A&M-Commerce stuns Warriors, 53-51

Demarcus Demonia scored 13 points and Khaliq Abdul-Mateen and C.J. Roberts each added 11 points Wednesday night to help visiting Texas A&M-Commerce stun Hawai’i, 53-51, in non-conference men’s basketball action.

Photo courtesy Chris Kadooka

An anxious crowd of 2,176 in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center watched the Lions break an early 13-13 tie and finish the half with a surprising 10-2 run to lead 23-15 at the break. TAMC then extended the lead to 37-23 on Abdul-Mateen’s 3-pointer from the left corner four minutes into the second half, before holding off a Warriors rally that cut it to 47-42 on Bernardo da Silva’s free throw with 2:51 remaining.

That was as close as UH would get until the final chaotic three seconds, when Samuta Avea sank a leaner from the left baseline to cut it to 53-48, followed by Noel Coleman’s 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 53-51 after the Lions threw away the ensuing inbounds pass.

TAMC also threw away the next inbounds pass, allowing the Warriors one final possession with 1.8 ticks on the clock. But Kamaka Hepa’s fadeaway 3-point attempt from beyond the top of the key failed to draw iron as time expired.

The Lions, who just made the move to NCAA Division I this season, evened their record at 4-4. UH fell to 5-2. 

The Warriors struggled all night generating offensive production against TAMC’s tight on-ball defense, shooting just 21.7 percent (5 of 23) from the field in the first half, including a dismal 1 for 13 from 3-point range. Just as significantly, the Lions out-rebounded Hawai’i 26-14 in the first half, including eight to zero on the offensive glass.

Leave a Response

Login or fill in the fields below to comment. (New user? Register)

Supporters