UH Vs. LBSU (3/7/26)

An era in Hawaiʻi Men’s Basketball is over in the islands. In its final game as a member of the Big West, the University of Hawaiʻi Men’s Basketball team ultimately fell to the Long Beach State Beach, 84-75, on Senior Night at Bankoh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday. UH will be the number two seed in the Big West Tournament with this loss. Three of UH’s six seniors were in double figures. Hunter Erickson led the way with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, with 18 coming in the first half. Isaac Johnson had 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Isaac Finlinson was the only non-senior who scored double digits with 15. Dre Bullock added 14 of his own. Gavin Sykes, who did not play in UH’s road game against Long Beach, led the way with 34 points on 10-of-17 shooting and was 5-of-8 from 3-point range. He was solely responsible for a 9-0 LBSU run in the closing stages that sent UH home the losers. Shaquil Bender had 20 points, and Petar Majstorovic had 11 in the win. UH got out to a good start and scored seven of the first nine points. Long Beach came back to tie the score, and although UH’s Erickson did most of the leg work in the first half, Sykes proved to be a big problem for the ‘Bows. With 6:26 to go, Erickson buried one of his three triples to tie the score at 22, but Long Beach uncorked a 10-0 run after that. Finlinson buried a triple himself, but Long Beach continued to control the cards. By halftime, UH trailed, 44-34. UH came into the second half and found a good rhythm. They went on a 14-3 run including 11 unanswered and forced an egregious six turnovers on Long Beach’s behalf in a four-minute stretch! UH took the lead, 58-55, with 11:02 to go off a Harry Rouhliadeff three-point play, and it appeared UH had Long Beach covered. After a flush from UH’s Johnson, Long Beach retook the lead for good off a Majstorovic jumper with 7:47 to go. With 4:07 remaining, and UH down, 68-64, Long Beach’s Sykes banked three straight triples to give LBSU a 9-0 run to ultimately send the Beach into the win column! Despite the Senior Night stunning loss, only UH’s third loss at home, UH still honored Erickson, Rouhliadeff, Johnson, Gytis Nemeikša, Bullock, and Yacine Toumi. UH drops to 14-6 in Big West play, and 22-8 overall while Long Beach improves to 10-22 and 6-14 in the Big West. UH will now embark to the Credit Union 1 Big West Tournament at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, NV. Tipoff is scheduled for Friday, Mar. 13 at 5:30 pm HST, but an opponent is yet to be determined.