Hawaii demolishes Cal State Fullerton behind inspiration and complete team effort

By Mark Remsa (@RUHoopsHQ)

Special to Daly Dose Of Hoops

HONOLULU — After dropping its third game in a row this past Thursday to UC San Diego and falling to seventh place in the Big West Conference standings, Hawaii looked no further than Saturday’s home game against Cal State Fullerton to stop the bleeding and to get its season back on track.

With a one-day turnaround, Hawaii (13-9, 5-6 Big West) showed no signs of fatigue as the Rainbow Warriors dominated Cal State Fullerton (6-17, 1-10 Big West) in every facet of the game, cruising to an important 82-57 conference win. The 25-point victory is Hawaii’s second largest in the history of the series, eclipsing the Rainbow Warriors’ 23-point demolition of the Titans four years ago.

After a few stoppages and a delay that lasted nearly 15 minutes due to shot clock malfunction issues at the start of the game, the Rainbow Warriors came together collectively to put on a spectacle for its fans to enjoy. Cal State Fullerton scored the first bucket of the game, but it only took Hawaii 125 seconds to regain the lead and to set the tone of the game on its terms.

“Setting the tone is great,” head coach Eran Ganot said. “I think setting the tone was an incredible byproduct of effort and incredible team play.”

In response to Cal State Fullerton’s first and only lead of the game, Rainbow Warrior guard Tom Beattie took control and fired a pass across the floor to forward Akira Jacobs, who knocked down a corner three that sent a crowd of 5,518 at the Stan Sheriff Center into a frenzy and gave Hawaii a 3-2 lead. 

“We wanted to play with intensity and aggression at the start of the game,” Hawaii forward Harry Rouhliadeff said on the importance of starting strong. “We wanted to come out with a lot of fire and energy to get this place moving.”

Little did Jacobs know that his shot was the one to fuel an astounding 27-6 run over the course of nine minutes in the first half.

Hawaii fed off the crowd’s energy for much of the game as the Rainbow Warriors drained 10 three-pointers, registered 13 second chance points, and got an incredible 42 points of production from their bench.

“When you walk into the gym and see a group of kids that are ready to attack their crafts, and then you see a support system from the fan base showing love for guys that are going through a tough time, personally I can’t thank them enough,” Ganot said. “For the fans to come into the gym tonight through the struggles we’re going through, we fought through those struggles, and it meant a lot to them.”

Hawaii saw ten of its players register points in the game, including four scoring in double figures. Beattie, who had struggled scoring in his four previous games, gave the Rainbow Warriors a breakthrough performance, finishing with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and a team-high five assists.

“Part of his leadership was setting the tone tonight,” Ganot said. “He was strong with the ball. He was strong at the rim. He was really good defensively as well and has been. Remember, he’s a sophomore captain, and he wants it so bad. I’m just so happy for him to have a breakthrough. You could feel his leadership on the bench. It’s not easy being a sophomore captain, but this performance will help him going forward. He’s such a great kid and a great young man.”

The Rainbow Warriors not only played well on the offensive end, but also played stout defense, forcing the Titans into making numerous mistakes and countless off-balance shots. Hawaii held Cal State Fullerton to 19-of-52 shooting from the field and 4-of-17 from three-point range. Unlike Thursday night when Hawaii lost the battle of the boards to UC San Diego, the Rainbow Warriors crashed the boards, controlled the glass, and won the rebounding battle decisively, 47-32. Rouhliadeff proved to be one of the key difference makers on the defensive end for Hawaii as the native Australian pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, disrupted shots in the post and had a key block towards the end of the first half that led to transition points for the Rainbow Warriors to extend their lead.

“We don’t have any three-year guys, and (Rouhliadeff) is a leader in our program,” Ganot said. “He’s kind of gone from being the example of where you earn credibility to where your words mean more. You could hear him. You feel his presence. He’s really been coming on.”

Last night’s win was not just an important victory to help Hawaii potentially turn its season around, but it was an emotional game for veteran leader Marcus Greene and one that was inspirational to his teammates. In anticipation of Coaches vs. Cancer week, Hawaii shared a video on the large screen in the arena prior to the game of Greene’s personal account of his battle with cancer as a child and how he overcame it. Greene went on to have a spectacular game, as he scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and two steals.

“It’s very inspiring,” Ganot said. “Marcus is an inspiration to himself, to his teammates, to this staff, to everybody. When I went to see him for the first time on the road, we built a great relationship, and he briefly mentioned to me he overcame a struggle. I had to ask him, ‘Wait, what? Did you just tell me you overcame cancer?’ Just listening to his story and getting to know him, he’s an incredible inspiration.”

Beattie added, “The video Marcus did was special. When he told us in the locker room, it nearly brought him to tears and nearly brought us to tears. Hearing his story and the way he told it just makes us grateful to be here and to be able to play this sport. I love Marcus. He’s the guy in the locker room that lights up everyone whenever you see him.”

Hawaii will hit the road this week as the Rainbow Warriors will battle Cal Poly (8-15, 2-9 Big West) on Thursday (ESPN+, 10 PM ET), and then round out their road trip with a high-stakes game against UC Santa Barbara (14-8, 6-5 Big West) on Saturday (ESPN+, 10 PM ET). Cal State Fullerton returns to action on Thursday, as the Titans travel to face a surging Cal State Northridge (15-7, 7-4 Big West) program (ESPN+, 10 PM ET).