Warrior Insider

Noel Coleman scored 21 points to lead the University of Hawai’i basketball team to the championship of the inaugural Patty Mills North Shore Classic with a 72-65 victory over Texas State on Saturday night.

A crowd of around 2,000 at the Cannon Activities Center on the Brigham Young-Hawai’i campus in La’ie, O’ahu watched the Rainbow Warriors improve to 5-1, including 3-0 in the CAC this season. The Bobcats from the Sun Belt Conference dropped to 4-3.

Bernardo da Silva added 14 points and seven rebounds, Harry Rouhliadeff had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and JoVon McClanahan contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Warriors.

Coleman was named the Most Valuable Player of the two-day, four-team tournament. Da Silva was also named to the All-Tournament team.

Hawai’i had a 22-11 lead with 8:46 remaining in the first half after a layup by Rouhliadeff. The Bobcats closed the half with a 9-1 run, with Mason Harrell scoring on a driving layup just before the halftime horn to give Texas State a 29-28 advantage at intermission.

The Warriors shot a respectable 45 percent (9 for 20) from the field in the first half, but connected on only 5 of 10 free throws (50 percent).

The game stayed close in the second half, with the teams exchanging the lead five times. Coleman broke a 40-40 tie with a 3-pointer with 11:47 remaining, but the Bobcats rallied again and took a 50-49 advantage with 8:18 left on the clock.

The Warriors seized control when JoVon McClanahan found da Silva under the basket for a dunk as the shot clock expired to give Hawai’i a 59-52 lead with 5:06 remaining. Hawai’i stayed in front the rest of the way, but continued to struggle on free throws, allowing the Bobcats to stay close at the end.

In Saturday’s game for third place, Southern Utah defeated Sacramento State, 91-87 in double overtime. The length of that game prompted the championship game to start 45 minutes later than scheduled.

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