Bows Pull Out a Thriller

After a near-perfect start, Hawaii raced out to a 24-11 lead by making 11 of its first dozen shots. But UH then couldn’t buy a bucket during a six-minute scoring drought down the stretch, blowing that early 13-point edge and trailing by four with just 33.3 seconds remaining.

Somehow, the Bows pulled out a thrilling and unlikely 65-64 conference victory over Louisiana Tech last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Kareem Nitoto launched and made a 24-foot shot for his first three-pointer of the season, pulling Hawaii to within one with 24.6 seconds left. After LaTech missed the front end of a one-and-one, Bill Amis grabbed the rebound and gave the ball to Nitoto. The point guard drove the lane and dished the ball out to the right corner, where Amis calmly swished a 15-footer for the lead with 8.1 seconds remaining.

Hawaii still had to survived a couple of near-misses in the waning seconds to improve its records to 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the WAC.

On a night that Petra Balocka was limited to a pair of minutes because of groin injury and Lasha Parghalava did not suit up because of a back injury, others stepped up for UH. Amis finished with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists. Paul Campbell – a 6-10 center — had his best game at UH, finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. And Rod Flemings, the team’s leading scorer, had 13 as did Adher Mayen.

UH next plays on Thursday at Idaho, which is coming off a 70-61 loss to conference favorite Utah State. Also last night, New Mexico State edged host San Jose State 75-73.