Revenge is sweet!

After losing to the UC San Diego Tritons for the first time, the University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team found a way to get revenge on UCSD at the Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday, 94-86, in overtime.

Six Rainbow Warriors would crack double figures with Justin McKoy leading them with 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting and a game-high nine rebounds. Noel Coleman chipped in 16, followed by 13 from Ryan Rapp and Kody Williams. Bernardo da Silva and Juan Munoz were next with 10 apiece.

Williams' 13 points was a season-high for him.

"I'm so proud of him," Rapp said of Williams. "He works so hard and he deserves every second he gets of it."

"He was the spark as well," McKoy added. "Seeing him hoop early like that... I'm like 'all right it's time to go!'"

Five Triton players cracked double figures with Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones leading the way with 24 on 6-for-8 shooting and 12-for-17 at the free throw line. Bryce Pope, UCSD's lead scorer, was held to only 10 points on 5-for-16 shooting in the loss; he was 0-for-6 from 3-point range as well.

"We needed a win like that just to grit it out," Rapp said.

McKoy drew first blood, but UCSD would score the next eight unanswered. It looked like another game where UH would lose sight and play catch-up from then on, but they were not so sure.

With JoVon McClanahan out for this game with a shoulder injury, Williams and Munoz picked up his slack and kept UH nearby.

"The game plan was still the same thing," Rapp said. "They couldn't really guard the top of the screen too well."

The Tritons had their biggest lead at nine points with 5:05 remaining in the first half, but they kept the lead until the second half.

At the end of the first half, UCSD had a scant 37-34 lead over UH. Williams led UH with 10 points.

The second half saw UH make an immediate push and tied the score four times. They would take the lead off a Williams free throw with 15:46 remaining, but UCSD was far from done.

The teams traded the lead a couple more times before UH ultimately took a seven-point lead with 10:31 remaining off a McKoy layup.

The Tritons made more runs at the 'Bows and eventually erased that seven-point deficit. Their lead was never more than four points.

In desperate need of help, Munoz delivered a critical game-tying triple with 3:03 remaining to tie the game at 72.

The Tritons responded and scored six of the next eight points, but UH was far from done.

Munoz stung the Tritons with his second game-tying triple with 10 seconds left. Just like that, both teams had 78 apiece.

Pope's desperation triple at the end was no good, and neither was Coleman's mid-court heave. Overtime was needed to settle things once and for all.

Munoz began the extra period with a field goal in the paint just 18 seconds in.

Tyler McGhie responded immediately with a field goal of his own for UCSD.

Two free throws from da Silva would ultimately put UH in the lead for good. The lead was ultimately cemented when Rapp buried both of UH's triples in overtime, and McKoy sank two free throws with 17 seconds left.

It was an excellent overtime period for the 'Bows, as they ultimately went 5-for-7 from the field, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. The overtime win was UH's first at home since Jan. 30, 2021, against UC Irvine!

UH now improves to 13-11 overall, and 5-7 in the Big West while UCSD falls to 15-9 overall and 9-3 in the Big West. UH has another tough task ahead with the UC Davis Aggies on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. HST, and the game can be heard on ESPN Honolulu or watched on Spectrum Sports.