Hawai‘i 84, #14 Xavier 82 (OT)
HONOLULU –(UH Media Relations) The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team gave its fans an early Christmas gift in the shape of a thrilling 84-82 overtime win over No. 14 Xavier on the second day of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Joston Thomas hit the game-winning bucket with 0.8 seconds left to give the Rainbow Warriors their first win over a ranked team in six years.
Thomas finished with a career-high 26 points to led a gritty Rainbow Warrior rally (6-5) while sending the Musketeers (8-3) reeling to their third straight loss. Vander Joaquim added a season-high 20 points, while Hauns Brereton finished with 13 points, including a double-clutch three-pointer with two seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
UH overcame the explosive backcourt of Tu Holloway (26 points) and Mark Lyons (18) who combined for 44 Xavier points.
The Rainbow Warriors, who have won four of its last five games, will now face Clemson in the fifth-place game of the tournament at 11:30 a.m. on Christmas Day.
Hawai'i won despite being out-scored 12-0 to start the game and trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half. The program's last win over a ranked team was an 84-62 blowout of No. 4 Michigan State in the 2005 season opener.
UH found itself in a double-digit hole just 2:33 into the game as the Musketeers reeled off 12 straight points to start the game and the Musketeers eventually took a 45-34 advantage in the locker room. It could have been worse if it were not for Thomas who carried the Rainbow Warrior offense in the first half scoring 18 of the team's 34 points.
The 'Bows saw their deficit grow to 54-39, but the Warriors never backed down from the Musketeers and cut the Xavier lead to just one with just a little less than five minutes remaining. UH had a chance to take the lead on three different possessions under two minutes and when Hollaway hit a jumper with 24 seconds left, the Musketeers moved their lead to 77-74.
Brereton, however, came through in the clutch, nailing a double-clutch three-pointer from the top of the key with two seconds. Joquim's dunk on UH's first possession of overtime gave the team its first lead of the game and began an exciting overtime finish in which Thomas capped with a bucket over two Musketeer defenders on the baseline.