Men's Basketball 11/14/2009 8:00:00 AM Southern Utah Athletics

Late Run Lifts Hawaii Past SUU

HONOLULU, Hawaii, Nov. 13 - Rod Flemmings scored seven straight points to spark a 9-0 Hawaii run midway through the second half, breaking open a close game Friday night and leading to a 65-48 Rainbow Warrior win over Southern Utah in the opening round of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.

Flemmings led all scorers with 23 points while Davis Baker scored 14 - 12 in the second half - to lead the Thunderbirds. Matt Massey added nine points, nine rebounds and two assists for SUU.

After trailing throughout the first half the Thunderbirds battled back late in the period, outscoring the Rainbows 10-2 over the final 2:38 to pull back within 32-27 at the break. Massey scored on a short jumper, then Drew Allen hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 30-22. After Adhar Mayan hit a jumper to push the Rainbow lead to 32-22 SUU scored the final five points of the half of a Damon Heuir three and a short jumper by Davis Baker as time ran down in the half.

SUU then rallied to take a 36-35 lead at the 12:10 mark on a Baker layup. Hawaii regained the lead behind back to back jumpers by Flemmings and Petras Balocka and extended its lead to five on a pair of Jeremy Lay free throws but Scott Friel scored on a layup to pull SUU back within 43-40 before Flemmings took over, scoring on a layup, a dunk and a traditional 3-point play before Dwain Williams ht a pair of free throws to give UH a 54-42 lead with 4:48 to play.

"I think we showed our immaturity and Hawaii showed their experience tonight," SUU Coach Roger Reid said. "After we took the lead we seemed like we felt like we had arrived and we didn't execute on either end of the floor. Meanwhile, Hawaii seemed to step it up after they fell behind, but that's what an experienced team will do. I'm pround of the way our guys fought back but I'm disappointed that we weren't able to maintain that intensity."

The tournament takes Saturday off. Southern Utah faces Northern Colorado Sunday at 2:30 local time.

-- SUU --

Flemmings led all scorers with 23 points while Davis Baker scored 14 - 12 in the second half - to lead the Thunderbirds.

After trailing throughout the first half the Thunderbirds battled back late in the period, outscoring the Rainbows 10-2 over the final 2:38 to pull back within 32-27 at the break. Matt Massey scored on a short jumper, then Drew Allen hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 30-22. After Adhar Mayan hit a jumper to push the Rainbow lead to 32-22 SUU scored the final five points of the half of a Damon Heuir three and a short jumper by Davis Baker as time ran down in the half.