HONOLULU — Hawaii’s men’s basketball team closed out the 2022 calendar year on New Year’s Eve with a 57-48 victory over Cal Poly at Simplify Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center. The win capped off a perfect 6-0 homestand in December as UH improved to 11-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big West.
The ‘Bows did it again with excellent defense as they held the Mustangs (7-7-, 1-1) scoreless for the first nine minutes of the game to take a 16-0 lead. UH never trailed in the game, but in the second half of the game he needed to hold off a resilient Cal Poly team who finished within four points. At UH he beat the Mustangs five times in a row overall and in Honolulu he beat the Mustangs nine times in a row.
UH led offensively Noel Coleman, KamakahepaWhen Jobon McClanahan 12 points each. Hepa also added nine rebounds and his team-high three assists.
Bowes set up a defensive clinic early on. Mustang missed his 11 shots in the first and UH took his 16-0 lead. But Cal Polly hit his nine of his next 13 shots and held his UH without a basket for his final three minutes of the first half to take the deficit to 27-22. By cutting back and entering the locker room, we got through a rough start.
UH took the lead back to 11 points after the break and kept the Mustangs at bay for much of the half. Kobe Sanders’ bucket made the game 52-48 with 2:14 remaining. But despite playing his fifth game in the last 10 days, Bowes didn’t falter and kept the Mustangs scoreless. The 48 points was a season-low for UH opponents.
UH shot just 37% from the field, making only 1 of 11 3-point attempts. However, Bowes excelled from the free-throw line and took the win 30-24.
The Rainbow Warriors head out for two games in Southern California, starting Thursday, January 5 against UC San Diego. Tips are at LionTree Arena at 7pm PT/5pm HT.
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