Warrior Insider

Justus Jackson scored a career-high 16 points to lead the University of Hawai’i basketball team to a 61-50 road win at CSU Bakersfield on Monday.

The Rainbow Warriors improved to 20-8 overall and 11-5 in the Big West Conference. The last Hawai’i team to produce a 20-win season was the 2015-16 squad that won the BWC championship.

The Roadrunners dropped to 10-17 overall and 6-10 in the conference, with two losses to Hawai’i.

Jackson, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, shot 6 for 8 from the field, including 4 for 5 from 3-point range. He played more minutes than expected in relief of Noel Coleman, and with fellow reserve guard Kody Williams unavailable due to a facial injury.

JoVon McClanahan added 15 points, including a momentum-lifting halfcourt shot at the halftime buzzer. Kamaka Hepa contributed 12 points and six rebounds, and Samuta Avea had 12 points and five rebounds.

CSUB opened the game with an 8-3 lead, but the Warriors responded with an 11-0 run to take a 14-8 advantage with 9:36 remaining.

The Roadrunners tied the game at 16, and it stayed close for the final six minutes of the first half. Hawai’i eventually took a 28-24 lead at intermission, with McClanahan draining a 3-pointer from mid-court as the halftime horn sounded.

McClanahan scored 12 points in the first half on perfect shooting – 3 for 3 on field goals, 5 for 5 on free throws.

The Warriors stayed in front the entire second half, although they did not pull away until the final four minutes. Hawai’i had a 43-42 lead with 9:33 remaining, and then went on a 15-5 surge to increase it to 58-47 with 3:49 remaining.

More details will be reported later.