Hawaii holds off second-half surge to down Hawaii Pacific

HONOLULU – Lightning will not strike twice in 2025.

Looking for a second Division I upset in the month of November, Hawaii Pacific (3-1) gave a scare to the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team on Monday evening but ultimately fell for the ninth straight time against the Rainbow Warriors, 88-76.

Seven players finished in double figures for UH, led by Isaac Johnson’s 16 points on 10-of-10 shooting at the charity stripe. The senior has hit 34 consecutive free throws, tying Brock Stepteau’s school record for foul shots made in a row.

Quinton McCullough led the charge for HPU, scoring a game-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. The 6-foot-4 forward also grabbed six rebounds in 19 minutes of action, dealing with foul trouble for a majority of the night.

Joshua West was held to 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting, grabbing seven rebounds and collecting four steals before fouling out late. Quentin Meza added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists while knocking down a pair of threes in 33 minutes of work.

Just as they have all season, the Rainbow Warriors started strong to the tune of a 12-0 lead while holding the Sharks scoreless for the opening five minutes of action.  West finally got the Division II visitors on the board with 14:20 left in the first half, sparking an 8-3 run to pull HPU back down by only single digits.

Powered by five first-half 3-pointers, the Sharks kept within a handful, trailing 38-33 entering halftime as all eight HPU players that saw time in the opening half scored. Hawai’i turned the ball over seven times in the first 20 minutes, leading directly to 11 points for HPU.

The Sharks surged out of the gates to begin the second half, taking a 42-41 lead after Josh Niusulu drained his second 3-pointer in three minutes after play resumed. Hawai’i pushed back in front after Johnson and Harry Rouhliadeff put in back-to-back buckets to make it 51-47, but West drained his lone triple of the game right after to pull HPU back within a point with under 13 minutes to play.

West turned around a steal right after and drove to the cup for a dunk to try and give the Sharks the lead, but Johnson swatted the guard on a questionable no-call to retain UH’s advantage and send HPU head coach Jesse Nakanishi into a frenzy.

Nakanishi was assessed a technical foul, sparking a 13-0 run for the Rainbow Warriors to take control with just over nine minutes left to play before West snapped another scoring drought for the Sharks.

“Refs award aggressiveness,” Nakanishi said after the game. “Yeah, maybe I wasn’t happy with a few calls, but at the end of the day, that’s on us to be tougher.”

The Q’s – Quinton McCullough and Quentin Meza – scored the final 24 points for the Sharks to help fight back within single digits with 1:33 to play, but the effort ultimately fell short as Hawai’i netted 32-of-39 free throws throughout the night to help polish off an 88-76 win.

Josh Niusulu scored a season-high 12 points for the Sharks, knocking down three 3-pointers and blocking a shot in 29 minutes of action.

Gytis Nemeikša ended up with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds in his third straight start for the Rainbow Warriors. Hunter Erickson and Yacine Toumi added 12 points each in the win while Harry Rouhliadeff chipped in 14 points off the bench in his return from injury.

Aaron Hunkin-Claytor did a little bit of everything for UH, scoring 11 points, grabbing five rebounds and handing out five assists in 38 minutes while being assessed the third and final technical foul of the night. Dre Bullock also scored 11 points and matched Nemeikša’s game-high eight rebounds while picking up two more steals and a block in the victory.

Hawai’i (5-2) will host North Dakota on Friday, November 28 with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. HT while Hawaii Pacific returns to action in a little over a week, hosting Chaminade on December 2 to begin PacWest play.