Hawaiʻi men's basketball finishes home season with vital Davis win

All is not lost just yet.

The University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team concluded its 2024-25 home season with a much-needed win over the UC Davis Aggies, 78-70, at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday. The win stopped a three-game skid by the 'Bows, who regained the seventh-place spot in the standings for the Big West Tournament in two weeks.

Tanner Christensen led a five-pack of double-digit scoring Rainbow Warriors with 16 points and nine rebounds and was 5-for-7 from the field. He was followed by Tom Beattie and Akira Jacobs with 12 apiece. Harry Rouhliadeff and Gytis Nemeikša chipped in 10 each as well.

TY Johnson led UC Davis with 26 points on 10-for-26 shooting. He was followed by Pablo Tamba's 19 on 6-for-11 shooting and nine rebounds. Carl Daughtery Jr. was next with 11 on 4-for-7 shooting.

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UH raced out to score seven of the first eight points, which included the first of Christensen's two triples. They would lead throughout, but Davis managed to come back to tie the score at 21, but it only lasted for 34 seconds.

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The 'Bows ignored any overthinking or hesitant playing and showed some commitment both offensively and defensively. Rouhliadeff sank two free throws with 7:30 remaining to start a 7-0 run to put UH back on top for good.

UH took a 35-25 lead with 2:36 left after a Beattie layup, but UCD got two layups back via Johnson and Daughtery. UH still ended the first half up, 35-29.

UCD's Tamba would score the first four points of the second half in the first minute, but UCD could not get over the top.

UH would answer the bell with each push that Davis put on them. Christensen stopped Tamba's four-point run with a dunk of his own on the next possession.

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Davis' Connor Sevilla would sink a triple to put Davis down, 39-38, but UH answered back with six unanswered of their own to give themselves more breathing room.

A Nemeikša foul with 12:17 remaining put Davis' Tamba at the line for two free throws. Tamba made them both, and Davis was within one again, 49-48.

Jacobs would sink back-to-back layups, which started a 9-1 UH run to make Davis start from scratch again. With the gap back to eight, UH executed their defense once again, which caused UC Davis players to miss many up-close shots.

With 5:11 remaining, Beattie hit a clutch triple to give UH its biggest lead of 10 points, 66-56. Although Davis' Johnson responded back with a triple of his own, Davis could not take advantage of what would be UH's final field goal of the home season.

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Davis had one final chance when UH missed a few free throws down the stretch, but more missed shots proved to be a big hurdle to jump over. Beattie would sink two more free throws with five seconds remaining for the final arithmetic.

It was a big win for the 'Bows after Cal State Bakersfield fell to Cal Poly, 98-72, earlier this week.

Following the conclusion of the game, Tanner Christensen, Ryan Rapp, Gytis Nemeikša, Jerome Palm, and Marcus Greene were all honored for Senior Night.

UH will hit the road one last time before the Big West Tournament. They will take on the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners on Thursday, Mar. 6 at 4:30 p.m. HST and at Northridge on Saturday, Mar. 8 at 3 p.m. HST. You can listen to both games on ESPN Honolulu.