Hawai’i comeback falls just short in first-ever meeting with Grand Canyon

Ran out of time. 

The first-ever meeting between the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team and Grand Canyon University came down to the wire, seeing a frenetic second half comeback by the Rainbow Warriors fall just short, 78-72. Senior forward Gytis Nemeikša led the comeback effort for the Rainbow Warriors, scoring 17 of his career-high 24 points after halftime. 

After shooting 32% from the field and turning the ball over 13 times in the opening 20 minutes of action, Hawai’i (5-2) found itself down 16 at the halftime break as Grand Canyon (5-2) shot 53% and scored 16 points directly off of UH’s turnovers. Tanner Christensen struggled to post his usual scoring numbers for the second consecutive game, hitting three of his six free throw attempts in the first half before finally making his first shot in the regular flow of action after halftime in a six-point, six-rebound performance by the typically steady Hawai’i big man. 

The Lopes rattled off the first eight points of the night before Harry Rouhliadeff finally got Hawai’i on the board with a baseline floater two and a half minutes into action. The Rainbow Warriors would pull within six by the first media timeout of the night after Marcus Greene checked in for the first time and finished a difficult up-and-under layup.  

Grand Canyon burst out of the timeout with a 10-3 run, extending the early lead to double figures as guard Tyon Grant-Foster knocked down a pair of free throws with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half. Seeing the margin balloon to as large as 17 points with 7:55 to play, Nemeikša attempted to get going off the bench with seven straight points for the Rainbow Warriors but didn’t get any scoring help in the meantime. 

An alley-oop dunk for GCU forward Lok Wur with 1:07 remaining before half put the exclamation point on a dominant opening 20 minutes for the Lopes, winning nearly every statistical category other than rebounding against the Rainbow Warriors on the way to a 43-27 lead at the break. 

After seeing Grand Canyon match a game-best 18-point lead a little over four minutes into the second half, Hawai’i head coach Eran Ganot pulled the same lever that has sparked the Rainbow Warriors multiple times already this season and inserted Nemeikša back into the contest. The Lithuanian forward immediately responded with a bucket just 35 seconds after checking in, reawakening a Hawai’i offense that had just drilled 15 3-pointers against HPU one week prior. 

Greene drilled a jumper to pull UH within 12 before Nemeikša made it a 9-point game on the next possession with 10:04 left to play, forcing a timeout from Grand Canyon after seeing the margin get cut in half in less than five minutes of game time. The stop in the action didn’t break Greene or Nemeikša’s focus as the duo scored ten in a row for Hawai’i to pull UH within one with 7:21 remaining, 58-57. 

The teams traded buckets back-and-forth over the next few minutes, seeing Hawai’i down one after Ryan Rapp’s layup with 2:29 to go made it a 67-66 game. Another Lok Wur dunk was the answer from GCU on the other end, giving the Antelopes the momentum needed to close out the sweaty 78-72 win over the Rainbow Warriors. 

Tyon Grant-Foster finished with 23 points to lead the way for Grand Canyon, hitting 6-of-17 shots (11-of-15 FT) as he continued to work his way back from an early season injury. Ray Harrison added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Lopes, who will host Life Pacific (NAIA) on Saturday before hitting the road next week to face Georgia.  

Marcus Greene was the only Rainbow Warrior other than Nemeikša to tally double figures, scoring 17 points off the bench while hitting 6-of-8 shots from the field after halftime. Kody Williams, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on Tuesday, added eight points while hitting a pair of threes in the loss for Hawai’i. 

UH continues its two-game road trip on Saturday, taking on Long Beach State in an early-season Big West Conference matchup as part of the inaugural “Bold Week” that was introduced to the scheduling for men’s and women’s basketball this year. It will be the first look at former Hawai’i assistants Chris Acker (head coach) and John Montgomery (associate head coach) in their new roles with the Long Beach State men’s basketball program.