Warriors Dominate East Texas A&M in Regular Season Home Opener

The Rainbow Warriors strolled through the East Texas A&M’s Lions in a blowout win in their first homestand. UH evens out their record to 0.500 for the young season, bouncing back after a crushing one point loss in Oregon.

Dre Bullock and Hunter Erickson led the offensive effort with 15 points each and a perfect shooting night for Erickson. Seven Hawaiʻi players were in double digit scoring, including 45 points coming off the bench. Gytis Nemeikša contributed with 14 points and Isaac Finlinson added a double double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Hawaiʻi’s aggression was met with a record breaking 54 attempts and 37 made free throws, both most in school history.

Hawaiʻi opened up the quarter with a strong perimeter presence and early ball movement to set the tone on offense. Erickson and Bullock opened up the scoring with early threes and Finlinson paired that with a strong presence on the glass.

The Lions responded with a pair of threes from Taylor and Fields but Hawaiʻi’s offense just got too hot to handle. The ʻBows bench unit came in blazing as well, especially when Nemeikša aggressively attacked the paint extending the lead to 40-25. The Lions would try to go on the attack but constant turnovers shattered any hope of a strong comeback.

Throughout the game, the ‘Bows gameplan was simple: attack the basket. They were rewarded for their aggression, converting on 22-34 first half attempts. Bullock's anticipation on defense paired with Erickson's perfect shooting night solidified the half as an impressive showing, with Hawaii up 53-30.

The Warriors opened up the second half with the same pressure. Isaac Johnson opened up the scoring with a quick layup followed by a three from Harry Rouhliadeff to push the lead to 26. East Texas A&M tried to answer quickly but was poor in transition.

Though things were already detrimental for Texas, Erickson assisted Johnson with a monster jam that got the arena rocking. Late in the half, Hunter Carter’s three pushed the lead to 30 that killed any glimmer of hope left for Texas.

Damian Garcia added a layup and Fields hit a midrange to close A&M’s scoring, however the Warriors held firmly and never looked back from the beginning.

The Rainbow Warriors will continue their 11 game homestand and host Mississippi Valley Nov. 12 at the Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

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