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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, February 20, 2010

UH men's basketball team loses 8th in a row


Advertiser Staff

Even the non-conference losses count.

For the University of Hawaii men's basketball team, a 102-89 loss to Cal Poly late Saturday night increased its losing streak to eight games.

The Rainbow Warriors fell behind by as many as 23 points in the first half, and trailed from start to finish. An inspired second half effort by Roderick Flemings helped get Hawaiçi as close as eight, but the Mustangs pulled away at the end.

A crowd of 2,669 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the ’Bows drop to 9-17.
Cal Poly, which is currently the fifth-place team in the Big West Conference, improved to 10-16.

Flemings had the best game of his career, finishing with 39 points on 15-of-30 shooting. It was the most points scored by a Hawaiçi player in the Sheriff Center. He scored 25 in the second half when the ’Bows were in rally mode.

Petras Balocka added 23 points and 16 rebounds, and Hiram Thompson scored 13
for Hawaiçi.

But it was hardly enough against a Cal Poly team that became the first Hawaii opponent to score 100 points in the Sheriff Center since it opened in 1994.

The Mustangs opened the game by draining three consecutive 3-pointers to set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Cal Poly went on a 12-0 run midway through the first half to take a 35-18 lead. The Mustangs led by as many as 23 points in the first half and took a 51-30 lead at intermission.

Cal Poly shot 67 percent from the field in the first half, including 8 of 12 from 3-point range. The Mustangs finished the game 11 of 21 (52 percent) from 3-point range.

The Mustangs pushed the lead back up to 23 before the ’Bows used a full-court defense to fuel a rally. A 16-3 run by Hawaiçi cut the Cal Poly lead to 63-53 with 14:38 remaining.

The closest Hawaiçi got was eight at 64-56. The Mustangs later went on a 10-0 run to increase the lead to an insurmountable 83-63 with 5:41 remaining.

Five Cal Poly players finished with double-figure points, led by Lorenzo Keeler's 27.

The ’Bows will remain at home for their final two WAC home games of the season. They will host Utah State on Thursday, then Nevada next Saturday.