Rainbow Warriors fall to hot-shooting Beach 79-71 | News, Sports, Jobs

The Maui News

The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team fell to 2-4 in Big West Conference play Thursday with a 79-71 loss at Long Beach State.

The Beach were nearly unstoppable in the first half, shooting a blistering 75 percent (18 of 24) from the field to take a 45-28 lead at halftime. Their lead reached 22 points, 71-49 with 8:58 remaining, and the Rainbow Warriors never got closer than eight points in losing for the sixth time in eight games.

Justin McKoy hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead UH (10-8), which shot 41.1 percent overall. Juan Munoz had 12 points and Bernardo da Silva scored 11.

Marcus Tsohonis scored 20 points and Jadon Jones added 19 to lead the Beach (12-7, 4-3 Big West). Lassina Traore had 13 points and Aboubacar chipped in 11.

Meanwhile, the UH women’s basketball team continued its hot start to the Big West season by beating Long Beach State 68-55 on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.

Lily Wahinekapu had 19 points and Ashley Thoms drained four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points to lead the Rainbow Wahine (8-7, 5-1).

Down 25-24 with six minutes to go in the second quarter, UH went on a 15-6 run to take a 39-31 halftime lead and led by double digits for most of the second half.

Savanna Tucker led the Beach (6-11, 1-6) with 16 points.

Hawaii next plays UC San Diego on Saturday, the women at home and the men on the road.

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