2023-12-04 06:01:27
Next Game:
Little Rock
12/7/2023 | 6:30 P.M.
Dec. 07 (Thu) / 6:30 P.M.
Little Rock
History
HONOLULU, Hawaii – Despite an offensive explosion in the first half, the Central Arkansas men’s basketball team mightn’t maintain that momentum in the second half, falling to the Rainbow Warriors on Sunday.
Four players scored in double-figures for the Bears, who dropped to 1-9 on the year. Tucker Anderson scored a career-high 23 points, leading the team in scoring for the third-straight game. The freshman had double-digit points in each half, using the long ball in the first before fighting his way into the paint in the second half. Glory Etim also registered double-digit points, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 from the field and adding a pair of free throws.
Hawaii started the game with a quick 5-0 burst, scoring on back-to-back possessions to open the scoring. But the Bears responded with a 7-2 run to knot the game, as Johannes Kirsipuu rattled off the first five points for Central Arkansas. The teams traded buckets and buckets, until back-to-back scores by Masai Olowokere gave the Bears a four-point lead. Two plays later, the senior trailed a fast break opportunity, cashing in on a triple from the top of the arc to boost the lead to seven and forcing a timeout from the Rainbow Warriors with 12 minutes to go.
But Hawaii started whittling the lead as the first half continued, with the Bears holding on until the seven-minute mark before surrendering the lead. The lead would switch hands a couple more times before an 8-0 run put Hawaii in the lead by multiple possessions. Central Arkansas continued fighting, but tough shot making by the Rainbow Warriors expanded the Bears’ deficit to 11 at the midway point.
Kirsipuu and Anderson had a combined 24 points at halftime, shooting 9-for-13 while hitting 6-of-7 from distance. Overall, the Bears shot 59 percent from the field and a scorching 58 percent from three-point range.
The Bears came out of halftime with a need to keep up the shooting from the first half to trim the lead, especially when Hawaii came out of the break missing shots. But Central Arkansas was only able to cut it to single digits once, on back-to-back scores from Anderson early in the period. But an early parade to the free throw line by the Rainbow Warriors made it tough to stay close, as the lead grew to 15. The Bears stayed locked in and held firm around there, but might never seem to string stops and scores together. Every score was answered by one on the other end, and every solid defensive possession was matched by the home team.
Olowokere cut the lead to 11 midway through the second half with a personal 6-2 run, picking off a pair of passes and getting rewarded with free throws on the other end and capping the run with a turnaround jumper. The senior would stretch his run to eight-straight for the Bears in the middle of the half before Anderson hit a rhythm of his own. But despite combining for 20 of Central Arkansas’ 33 points, Hawaii was able to stay out in front.
The Bears return home for the next one, facing off once morest in-state foe Little Rock on Thursday. The next iteration of the Governor’s I-40 Showdown, tip-off once morest the Trojans is set for 6:30 p.m.
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