A Christmas miracle was given!

The University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team successfully defeated the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, 73-70, in overtime on Wednesday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The win assures Hawaiʻi will finish third place in the 2024 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in what would be the final time being held during the Christmas season.

Gytis Nemeikša poured in a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the 2024-25 season. Harry Rouhliadeff added 15 hard-earned points of his own, along with fellow Aussie Ryan Rapp's 12 in addition. Tanner Christensen also matched Nemeikša's 11 rebounds with his six points on the night.

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Malcolm Christie led Oakland with 27 points and was 7-for-22 from 3-point range. Tuburu Naivalurua was next in line with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

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Nemeikša scored UH's first 11 points and had 17 in the first half alone. He showed that Nebraska game where he scored just a single point was just a bump in the road for him. While other UH players got in the scoring column, they had to hold off an Oakland squad with zero quit in them.

UH used their offense and defense expertly and pulled as much as a 9-point lead on Oakland. By the time halftime came, it was 32-25, UH.

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Oakland came firing out of the gate to begin the second half to the tune of a 9-0 run. They would take a 34-32 lead by the 15:23 mark.

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A Jerome Palm jumper put UH on the board in the second half and back in the lead. That started an 8-0 UH run by the 12:24 mark.

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Oakland's Christie banked multiple triples, which were back-to-back on occasion and had two 4-point plays to his credit as well. They were enough to wipe out UH's lead in mere seconds.

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Aaron Hunkin-Claytor came off the bench for 26 minutes and poured in valuable point guard experience and four key assists that kept UH close by. Akira Jacobs would make a layup with 10:05 remaining to tie the score at 46, which was assisted by Hunkin-Claytor himself.

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Despite an 8-0 Oakland run after that, Rouhliadeff stepped up to help UH out, which started with a goaltending call with 7:24 remaining. That started a 10-0 UH run to retake the lead, which was finished by a Rapp triple.

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Christie banked back-to-back triples again to make UH start from scratch after UH took a 2-point lead on two occasions. Oakland found themselves ahead by one, 60-59, with 1:37 remaining.

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A Rouhliadeff tip-in with 42 seconds left resulted in another tie at 62, but Naivalurua put Oakland back in front with a layup on the next possession. With four seconds left, Christensen was fouled by Oakland's Deng Majak; Christensen made both free throws to tie the score at 64.

UH got a golden opportunity when Oakland's Jaylen Jones committed a costly turnover and lost the ball with a second left. Tom Beattie dove for the ball and got it, and UH wisely called a timeout; unfortunately, Rapp blew their one chance to win in regulation when he turned it over on the inbound.

The long-range buzzer beater from Oakland's Jayson Woodrich was not even close, and both teams went to overtime tied at 64 each.

Rapp atoned for his mistake and buried a triple 40 seconds into the overtime period. It was now 67-64, UH.

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Oakland's Naivalurua went 1-for-2 at the free throw line after a Christensen foul. He then got two more free throws off a Rouhliadeff foul with 2:13 remaining and made them both to tie the score at 67 once again.

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With 1:52 remaining, Nemeikša buried his second triple of the game to put UH back in front for good, 70-67, but Oakland was far from done.

Christie buried his seventh triple on the next possession to tie the score once again. That Christie triple would be the only field goal made by Oakland in overtime and the last time they would score.

With 46 seconds left, Rouhliadeff put UH back in front with another tip-in shot. Then, Marcus Greene got fouled by Oakland's Isaiah Jones with 18 seconds left and went 1-for-2 at the free throw line.

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With one chance left, Christie went for his eighth triple to tie the game with five seconds left, but it bounced off to the left. Jones got the offensive rebound, but UH's Nemeikša blocked his shot, and Oakland walked away the losers.

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UH improves to 8-4 in the 2024-25 season. They will return to Big West Conference play next Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 against the 0-2 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at the Stan Sheriff Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm HST, and you can watch the game on Spectrum Sports or listen in on ESPN Honolulu.