For the first time in a decade, the Hawaii men’s basketball team is NCAA Tournament-bound.
Showing posts with label hawaii rainbow warriors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hawaii rainbow warriors. Show all posts
Hawaii: 2025 Hawaii Bowl Champions
Reserve quarterback Luke Weaver came off the sideline and threw a 22-yard scoring pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left to deliver the Hawaii football team a 35-31 victory over California in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Wednesday.
Hawaii: 2021 NCAA Division I-II Men's Volleyball National Champions
COLUMBUS, Ohio – National Champions. The title that the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team will hold until 2022 after the Rainbow Warriors swept BYU in the NCAA Championship match Saturday night at the Covelli Center. Set scores were 25-21, 25-19, 25-16.
Making their fourth national title match appearance, the Rainbow Warriors (17-1) advanced to the championship match after defeating UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals and brought home the university's first NCAA team title since 1987. The title is also the first in program history.
Senior Rado Parapunov led all players with 13 kills in earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Freshmen Chaz Galloway and Guilherme Voss each did not commit an error in the match with six kills on nine swings each.
Setter Jakob Thelle led the Warriors to a .381 hitting percentage on the night with 36 assists while adding two kills of his own. Thelle ran the middle of the floor to just about precise perfection with 13 kills on 20 swings out of redshirt senior Patrick Gasman (7 kills, 1 error on 11 swings) and Voss (6 kills on 9 swings). Both Thelle and Gasman were named to the all-tournament team.
As a team, UH put pressure on the Cougars at the service line all night with Thelle leading the way with four aces and Parapunov and Cowell adding three each. One of the nation's top serving teams, BYU finished with only two aces including 0 by one of the nation's top servers Gabi Garcia Fernandez.
Fernandez led the Cougars (20-4) with 12 kills.
UH used a 3-0 run early in Set 1 for an 8-5 advantage. The Cougars closed to within one after their sixth block but the Warriors surged ahead by three after their first stuff of the night. A BYU ace that trickled the net tied the score at 17. The Cougars momentarily took the lead before the Warriors reeled off five straight points with Spyros Chakas at the service line for a 23-19 lead. The Cougars served long and Hawai'i took the opening set. Although the closest set of the night, UH had its highest offensive output with 17 kills in the set on a .400 hitting percentage.
Hawai'i took a 6-4 lead in the early going of Set 2. The Warriors made it 13-8 after ace by Thelle. Three more points made it a 6-0 run and a 16-8 lead. The Cougars scored three unanswered to close to within five at 17-12 forcing a Hawai'i timeout. But the Warriors put away the set with three straight aces by Parapunov, including one that hit 72 miles per hour on the radar gun. UH closed out the set on a kill by Cowell for a 2-0 lead in the match.
More tough serving helped the Warriors jump out to a 9-4 lead in Set 3. The lead was 12-6 before the Cougars scored three straight to pull within three. The six-point lead was cut to just two points when a BYU kill made the score 14-12 Hawai'i, but a 10-2 run to close out the match gave the Warriors their first national title.
2021 Hawaii Rainbow Warrior Men's Volleyball - Wild Reputation
#GoBows #WarriorBall21 #NCAAMVB #NationalChampionship
Hawaii: 2020 New Mexico Bowl Champions
FRISCO, Texas >> Calvin Turner knew he’d just been given a gift.
Hawaii’s 21-point halftime lead had suddenly shrunk to seven as Houston captured the momentum late in the third quarter of Thursday’s New Mexico Bowl. As he moved up to field a kickoff short of the goal line, Turner’s memory flashed back to the week of film study in preparation for Hawaii’s third appearance in a mainland bowl.
“They just scored a touchdown so I was thinking that we needed a big play,” Turner said. “Their kicker has a leg and he’s been kicking touchback after touchback. There was one time on film where he kicked the ball in the middle of the field on a miss-kick to Cincinnati and had a big return. Coach said, ‘if it’s in the middle of the field, it’s going to be a big return.’
“So when I saw the ball coming in the middle, I kind of knew in my head that this was going to go to the crib.”
After securing the catch, Turner turned his vision into reality, picking his way through the first wave of coverage, breaking to the sideline, then cutting across the field for a game-record 92-yard touchdown return that helped propel the Warriors to a 28-14 Christmas Eve victory at Toyota Stadium.
Turner was named the game’s outstanding offensive player after finishing with 252 total yards — 60 yards rushing, 88 receiving and 104 on kick returns — in Hawaii’s second straight postseason win and the second in a mainland bowl game in the program’s history.
Hawaii quarterback Chevan Cordeiro threw three touchdown passes, including a 75-yarder to Turner, and the Warriors — a 101⁄2-point underdog entering the game — held off a Cougar rally in the second half to cap Todd Graham’s first season as head coach at 5-4.
“We really talk a lot about bringing the energy and the intensity and I thought our energy level and our passion to win was at a very, very high level. Probably played the best game we’ve played all year just top to bottom,” said Graham, who also celebrated the 100th win of his coaching career.
“I can’t give our players enough credit. They really played well, they executed well and we were the most disciplined, physical team on the field and that was the difference in the game.”
The game was moved to Frisco from its usual location in Albuquerque because of COVID-19 restrictions in New Mexico.
Houston quarterback Clayton Tune was without three starting receivers and finished 20-for-38 for 216 yards and two touchdowns for the Cougars. But the Hawaii defense came down with three interceptions and finished with five sacks.
Hawaii shed its tendency for slow starts this season by jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter as the Warriors pressured Tune into two early interceptions that the Hawaii offense converted into scores.
Hawaii defensive lineman DJuan Mathews batted Tune’s second throw of the day, and linebacker Penei Pavihi snagged the loose ball to set up the UH offense at the Cougars’ 8. Two plays later, Cordeiro found freshman running back Dae Dae Hunter flaring out of the backfield for a 3-yard touchdown pass.
“Our whole deal was to push their quarterback off his spot and to pressure and to mix it up and try to confuse him,” Graham said.
“We talked about batting the ball, we brought pressure on that third down, we knew what they were going to run, we knew they were going to throw the slant route, it gets batted and Penei makes a big interception.”
Pressure from cornerback Cortez Davis led to an interception by Michael Washington later in the opening period. On the next play, Cordeiro fired a dart over the middle to Turner, who broke loose from a defender then burst away from the rest of the Cougars secondary for a 75-yard touchdown.
The quick strike matched the Warriors’ longest play of the season, also a Cordeiro-to-Turner connection against San Diego State. Turner finished the season with a team-high 11 touchdowns and said last week he would wait until after the bowl game to decide whether to return to the Warriors next season.
“That man, he’s a beast,” Hawaii linebacker Darius Muasau said. “He does it every week. Day in, day out he proves that he’s the best at what he does.”
Muasau was named the game’s outstanding defensive player after finishing with nine tackles, raising his season total to 104, including a sack, and an interception. Linebacker/safety Khoury Bethley finished with 14 tackles (including nine solo and three for losses) and tipped a pass leading to Muasau’s interception. Linebacker Jeremiah Pritchard also had nine stops with two sacks.
The Rainbow Warriors had a winning record for the third season in a row, the first time they’ve done that since 2001-04. Houston (3-5) has consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 2000-02.
Hawaii raced to a 21-0 lead in the first half with Cordeiro’s third TD pass going to Jonah Laulu, a defensive tackle who lined up at tight end, for a 4-yard score in the second quarter.
An energized Houston offense rallied with two touchdowns in the third quarter, with Tune throwing a 7-yard scoring pass to Nathaniel Dell and a 26-yarder to Christian Trahan.
After Trahan’s score, Turner returned the kickoff 92 yards to cap the scoring.
“We just came off of a big play and that was almost like a dagger,” Trahan said. “We tried to fight back, but that was definitely a big play in the game.”
Said Houston coach Dana Holgorsen: “I was sick to my stomach. We played spurts of good football, but that’s not going to get it done. I’m glad 2020’s over.”
———
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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2019 Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Brigham Young
Anytime, anywhere. Since 1909. By the grace of His Majesty King Kamehameha the Great, the plantation in Halawa and the Pride Rock must be protected to a man at all costs. And so those brave young men of the gridiron who, of their own volition, take up the Green, Black and White of the University of Hawaii do strive, by day, and by night, to Live Aloha and Play Warrior.
So begins a lifelong commitment that goes beyond the completion of their playing days and their richly-deserved degrees and the memories shared with the world.
Thus is the century-plus legacy of Hawaii Rainbow Warrior Football. The state's team. Polynesia's team. The Pride of the Pacific. The Spirit of Aloha.
It's a sport. A sport. A SPORT!
Go Bows.
Warriors.
We are the Warriors that built this town from dust.
Hawaii Rainbow Warrior Football.
It's a sport.
#GoBows.
Hawaii: 2019 Hawaii Bowl Champions
Perhaps playing in a Hawaii uniform for his final time, junior quarterback Cole McDonald completed a heart-stopping comeback with a 24-yard touchdown pass to freshman Nick Mardner as the Warriors secured a 38-34 victory over Brigham Young University to win the Hawaii Bowl.
The Cougars had a chance to win it, taking over at their own 22 with 1:12 left in the game, but the Warriors defense held as BYU quarterback Zach Smith’s final pass was intercepted by Khoury Bethley with 25 seconds left at the UH 38 to seal the deal before an ecstatic Aloha Stadium crowd of 19,539. It was his second pick of the game.
McDonald hit 28 of 46 passes for 493 yards and four touchdowns. His top two targets were JoJo Ward, who caught seven for 159 yards, and Jared Smart, who pulled down another seven for 142 to lead an offensive attack that scored 31 points in the first half and only seven in the second.
But as well as those two proven products played, it was two completions on the final drive to the little-used Mardner that made the difference. The first went for 38 yards to convert a huge third-down play and the second for 24 to win the game. His two catches for 62 yards won’t crack the top receivers for the night, but his were the two that mattered most.
BYU, in danger of being run out of town in the first half, rallied for a 34-31 lead in the second it just couldn’t hold, even with the defense forcing four consecutive three-and-outs in the second half. The Cougars finished the season 7-6, with the Warriors coming in with a 10-5 record.
Down 34-31 early in the fourth quarter, Hawaii finally got a first down in the second half on a 46-yard completion from McDonald to Ward to give UH the ball at BYU’s 26. Three snaps later, out came UH field-goal kicker Ryan Meskell, who missed a 40-yarder wide right to keep BYU up by three.
BYU place-kicker Jake Oldroyd had a chance to make that lead six for the Cougars, who drove into field-goal range on the ensuing series, but the kick was wide right, keeping the score at 34-31 with 9:03 remaining.
Hawaii put together a nice drive on the ensuing series, but faced a critical fourth-and-3 at the 46 that the Warriors converted into a first down on a 20-yard completion from McDonald to Jason-Matthew Sharsh. But BYU held, forcing a punt.
Hawaii: The Bane of Army West Point in 2019.
HONOLULU (AP) — The State of Hawaii has virtually claimed responsibility for being rendered the bane of the now-disgraced United States Military Academy football team of West Point, N.Y.
Hawaii—established as the 50th state in the union, an influential province in the Pacific Rim, known for being the formative home of many successful American football players—through the Governor's Office, claimed responsibility for putting the "Black Knights" in "a hole they could never get out of," per a spokesman at an impromptu press conference outside Iolani Palace.
The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warrior football team of Mano'a initiated the two-step operation of drawing the highest of enmity from the Long Grey Line in a complete offensive showcase at the Aloha Stadium proving grounds on 30 November 2019. The Warriors routed Army to a man 52-31, effectively ending Army's fleeting attempt in vain to qualify for a Football Bowl Alliance-sanctioned college bowl game at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of collegiate American football in the country.
Intelligence agents were notified via morbidly obese armchair warrior spies attached via eyesight to bleeding-edge devices called high definition (HD) televisions that the United States Naval Academy football team of Annapolis, Md. had completed the second and final step of the two-week cross-country operation at approximately 1315 HST at the Lincoln Financial Field battleground located in Philadelphia, Pa. The battleground is the designated home of the Philadelphia Eagles Football Club of the National Football League (NFL), the USA's professional American football competition. The full time score read: Navy 31, Army 7. Where the Black Knights were felled by the Warriors' aerial attack and the Fortuitous Farmer, Cole McDonald two weeks prior, a superior option attacked employed by the Naval Academy and Commodore Malcolm Perry ensured Army ended their ill-fated campaign on a two-match losing streak.
The Midshipmen, as they are referred to as, are managed by Kenneth Va'a Niumatalolo, a graduate of the University of Hawai'i in 1989. Niumatalolo is also a longstanding member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or the LDS (Mormon) Church. The Church's designated university, the Brigham Young University of Provo, Utah, is Hawaii's designated opponent in the 2019 Social Finance, Inc. (SoFi) Hawai'i Bowl.
As for the Midshipmen, their final opponent to close out their productive 2019 campaign are the Wildcat football team of Kansas State University of Manhattan, Kan., in the 2019 AutoZone Liberty Bowl at the game's namesake stadium in Memphis, Tenn. The Wildcats team manager, Christopher Paul Klieman, was formerly the manager of the Bison football team of North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., an established multiple champion at the second-tier NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
A full report on the endlessly expansive amounts of a so-called odorless, tasteless, mindlessly senseless gas called "shade" inflicted on the regressing legacy of Army West Point Football against the State of Hawaii will be disclosed at an unspecified date. Preliminary reports have indicated that the date is listed as...never.
———
J.R. Salazar is a former association football writer and current photographer, blogger and Final Fantasy XIV gamer. Visit him on Instagram at @joryansalazar and on Tumblr at @bongaboi.
#GoBows.
Hawaii Rainbow Warrior Football and the Hawaii Bowl
The Hawaii Rainbow Warrior football team represents not only represents the University of Hawaii at Manoa, but the entire University of Hawaii system, the city and county of Honolulu, and the State of Hawaii and the island kingdom it succeeded. The Rainbow Warriors have had a rich tradition of participating in the postseason. Being in a bowl game is a source of pride from a school's perspective and civic perspective. There is a sense of community and bonding and shared memories from seeing your favorite college team make a bowl game and, if they are good enough, win it.
In the state of Hawaii, there is a bowl game called the Hawaii Bowl. Formally sponsored by ConAgra Foods and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, the bowl game was the product of the 2001 Hawaii Rainbow Warrior Football season, where the team had a 9-3 record but was not invited to a bowl game despite having the caliber and quality to be in one and win it. There have been 12 different winners of the Hawaii Bowl. The most high-profile winner? Notre Dame, who beat Hawaii in 2008. That team is now in the College Football Playoff for this year.
To ensure the viability of the bowl game and to incentivize fans from across O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands to converge on Hawaii's de facto national stadium, the Aloha Stadium, and partake in the gridiron festivities, the organizers of the Hawaii Bowl inserted a clause in which the Rainbow Warriors are guaranteed entry to the contest given that they reach the prerequisite amount of wins. In Hawaii's case, that would be seven.
This year, in 2018, they reached eight, but they were very close to being left out of the postseason due to a four-game losing streak that was snapped on Senior Night against UNLV which was followed by an overtime thriller over San Diego State. A number of other victories were also won the hard way, including a road overtime arm-wrestle against San Jose State and a grinder at home to Wyoming, a team that, despite being 6-6, could be without an invitation due to a surplus of bowl-eligible teams and a number of metrics (i.e. conference head-to-head) working against Craig Bohl's Cowboys.
Nonetheless, this is Hawaii's eighth appearance in the show, and they run this game the same way USC runs the Rose Bowl. Ironically, USC finished this season 5-7 and are not going to a bowl game, a truly regressive year. There have been four times Hawaii have been named champions of the Hawaii Bowl. Only one other team has had multiple Hawaii Bowl wins, and that team is SMU, who also finished with a 5-7 season and is bowl-ineligible.
Hawaii's first appearance in the Hawaii Bowl was in the inaugural edition, a game in which the Warriors lost to Tulane 36-28. To date, that is the last-ever bowl win for the Green Wave, despite a 2013 appearance in the New Orleans Bowl. Like Wyoming, Tulane are in an unenviable position of being a team without an invitation. They finished the regular season 6-6 and with a share of the American West Division title but lose on head-to-head and are at the mercy of UCF winning the conference championship to allow the Green Wave to have a case. The Knights are favored against Memphis but with upsets being a commonality, Tulane stand to be on the outside looking in.
Hawaii's first Hawaii Bowl win came the season after, and in typical Warrior fashion, it was a shootout against the mainland UH, the Houston Cougars. Hawaii won 54-48 in a match that went three overtimes, a game that saw Timmy Chang win game MVP. It was June Jones's second-ever bowl game win as Hawaii head coach. Jones would go on to be the winningest head coach in modern Hawaii football history and one of the players he coached, Nick Rolovich, is now coaching at the school with the same offensive system Jones ran, the run-and-shoot, especially after realizing that running the spread is in violation the identity of success at the program. Interesting to note, the head coach of Houston at the time was Art Briles, and this was before a move to Baylor, one that would see the downfall of his legacy coaching the game, a downfall that has been well-publicized (and consequentially, celebrated) by local and national media.
Hawaii's next bowl victory came in 2004, when Hawaii faced the UAB Blazers and their now star receiver in the pros, Roddy White. Watson Brown was the coach back then for UAB, who lost, 59-40 in an offensive shootout. UAB would fold its program several years later but it would only be temporary as pressure was brought on to bring college football back to Birmingham.
The Blazers' return to the big time was celebrated with a Bahamas Bowl appearance, one they would go on to lose. UAB, this season, have won the Conference USA East Division title and stand to be placed in a far better bowl, although taking care of some unfinished business wouldn't be so bad. Chad Owens was the MVP for the Bows, and Owens went on to a successful CFL career to go with at least one Grey Cup. It should be noted that a young Rob Stone was a sideline reporter for ESPN's broadcast. He is now known for his presentations on MLS and all things soccer for FS1 and Fox Sports, alongside a certain Alexi Lalas.
Notre Dame's lone victory over Hawaii was in 2008, a 49-21 rout. This was before the current golden period under Brian Kelly, 10 years ago. Greg McMackin was the coach at the time and it was not going to be easy for Hawaii to pick up the pieces after Jones left for SMU. (He is now with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats). McMackin again would fall short as they were stunned in 2010 by the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 62-35. The coach at the time for Tulsa was a man by the name of Todd Graham. The 9-3 season was enough to see Graham take the job at Pittsburgh but he only lasted one year before a lengthy stint at Arizona State. Currently, as of this post, Graham remains unemployed. A season later, McMackin also would be sacked as coach of the Warriors.
McMackin's replacement was Norm Chow, and this was akin to the Philadelphia Eagles hiring Rich Kotite. The Warriors never made a bowl game under Chow's tenure with every season being a losing season and unsurprisingly, it would be his last-ever collegiate coaching gig, despite a cameo coaching at prep level in Southern California.
After Chow was fired as Warriors head coach and Chris Naeole fininished 2015 as interim coach, Nick Rolovich finally took over the program and in his first year, thanks to a petition, Hawaii played in the Hawaii Bowl for the first time since 2010. The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders were the opponents. The coach of that team? Rick Stockstill, who is still the coach to this day and who players are taking part the Conference USA Championship on their own home turf. 52-35 was the final score, with Dru Brown winning game MVP honors. Ironically, he would transfer to Oklahoma State after the following year in which the Rainbow Warriors regressed.
Which brings us to this season. Hawaii started the year 6-1, their lone loss during that stretch against another bowl-eligible team, the Army Black Knights, who stand to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy after finally turning the tide against Navy after a length period of domination by the fleet. All Hawaii needed was one victory. But losses to BYU, Nevada, Fresno State and Utah State threatened to derail the Warriors' chances of the postseason. They were made to suffer against UNLV but were able to rally through the understudy to Cole McDonald, a freshman state champion from St. Louis High School, Chevan Cordeiro. St. Louis is also the alma mater of Timmy Chang. In the end, Hawaii were able to pull off some thrilling wins over the Rebels and San Diego State in San Diego, their first in three decades, and an overtime victory highlight by routine pass defense times two.
Some sources have Hawaii facing the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles are no strangers to the show, having participated in 2011. Jay Hopson is the head coach of the Golden Eagles for this season and comes from a successful run coaching Alcorn State and sticking it to established sides in the SWAC such as Grambling (who have regressed this season). An invitation to the Hawaii Bowl will be an excellent opportunity for Southern Miss to be a sleeper side for next season. The coach for the Golden Eagles at the time? Larry Fedora, who was fired at North Carolina. (Hey, they ARE a basketball school, first and foremost. Like Duke.)
Another source has Hawaii facing Louisiana Tech, a former conference rival back in the old Western Athletic Conference. Skip Holtz is the coach at La Tech, and he also is no stranger to the Hawaii Bowl having seen the experience firsthand as head coach at East Carolina. The Pirates were the beneficiary of Hawaii's perfect regular season in 2007 and pulled off an upset rin holding off the Boise State Broncos 41-38. Chris Petersen, at the time, was the coach. He is now at Washington getting ready to lead the Huskies to a possible Rose Bowl invite.
Still another source suggests that the school of Byron Leftwich and Randy Moss, the Marshall Thundering Herd, the sons (and daughters) of the great John Marshall, will be facing UH on Dec. 22. Now Marshall are already bowl eligible and will not gain much from their make-up game with Virginia Tech this week. However, the Herd have never been to the Hawaii Bowl and it would be understandable if the Hawaii Bowl Committee goes in a new direction and offers the other team from West Virginia a literal holiday vacation.
And yet, another source suggests that Middle Tennessee will get a crack at payback against Hawaii. MTSU were 8-4 heading into their most recent with the Warriors and finished third in their conference division. This season sees them far more improved and a return visit to Honolulu will be a great incentive to even the score and possibly spark a new rivalry for the Warriors.
Watch this space, because here at the Bedlam on Baltic Avenue (who have a stake in the fortunes of Rainbow Warrior Football), we believe that it will be the Herd that face Hawaii on Dec. 22. Watch this space because there will be an update to see if this is confirmed or another opponent is selected for the Green and White in their eighth Hawaii Bowl appearance.
EDIT: We have an opponent. To our modest surprise, the aforementioned Louisiana Tech has been named the Hawaii Bowl opponent for the Warriors.
Hawaii: 2016 Hawaii Bowl Champions
HONOLULU -- Dru Brown threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns and Hawaii overcame an early deficit to beat Middle Tennessee 52-35 in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night.
The Rainbow Warriors (7-7) amassed 500 yards of total offense and their highest-scoring output this season to end the year on a three-game winning streak.
Brown completed 20 of 30 passes without an interception. He had a 2-yard touchdown run and was sacked just once.
Tight end Metuisela Unga caught two of Brown's scoring strikes, an 18-yarder in the first quarter for Hawaii's first score and a 12-yarder late in the third.
Diocemy Saint Juste ran for 170 yards on 25 carries.
Hawaii turned three Middle Tennessee turnovers into 21 points. It fell behind 14-0 just over 5 minutes into the game, but scored the next 28 points and never relinquished the lead.
Brent Stockstill started at quarterback for the Blue Raiders (8-5) after missing the last three games with a broken collarbone. He finished 30 of 51 passing for 432 yards. Stockstill threw four touchdown passes -- two to Richie James -- and was intercepted twice.
James caught nine passes for 175 yards. It was his 14th game of 100 or more receiving yards in his career. Middle Tennessee posted 542 yards of total offense.
Hawaii took a 35-21 lead into halftime.
THE TAKEAWAY
Middle Tennessee: The Blue Raiders have now lost their last four bowl games. It was their 10th appearance in a bowl game in program history and the sixth in the FBS era. Their last postseason win came in the 2009 New Orleans Bowl, when they defeated Southern Miss 42-32.
Hawaii: The Rainbow Warriors improved to 6-5 overall in bowl games and 4-3 in the Hawaii Bowl in their first postseason appearance since losing to Tulsa 62-35 in the 2010 Hawaii Bowl. It is their first bowl win since beating Arizona State 41-24 in the 2006 edition of the Hawaii Bowl.
UP NEXT
Middle Tennessee will face yet another rigorous nonconference schedule, opening against Vanderbilt on Sept. 2 before road games at Syracuse and Minnesota.
Hawaii will start year No. 2 under coach Nick Rolovich at home against Western Carolina on Sept. 2, before visiting UCLA the following week.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors: 2015-16 Big West Men's Basketball Champions
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Hawaii had a very limited window to make the NCAA Tournament.
With NCAA sanctions about to take effect that ban them from the 2016-17 postseason, the Rainbow Warriors' last chance at March Madness for the foreseeable future was Saturday night. Hawaii made the most of its opportunity.
Aaron Valdes scored 14 points, Stefan Jankovic scored all 10 of his points in the second half, and the top-seeded Rainbow Warriors hung on late to beat No. 3-seed Long Beach State 64-60 in the Big West Conference Tournament championship game.
The Rainbow Warriors (27-5) earned an automatic bid to their fifth NCAA Tournament and first since 2002.
"This is huge for us. Honestly, we deserve this," Jankovic said. "With all the infractions and everything we've been through, we told ourselves this year we were going to go all the way. We're a tough group."
Hawaii was sanctioned for infractions committed under former coach Gib Arnold. Its penalties include a 2016-17 postseason ban, scholarship reductions, and players allowed to transfer without having to sit out a year.
Despite those sanctions and a third coach in three years at the helm, the Rainbow Warriors rolled to a conference co-championship in the regular season before claiming the conference tournament title.
"We all could've quit, gone to other places, but we stuck together and stuck it out," said Valdes, who was named tournament MVP. "It means a lot after all we've been through together."
Their resilience showed in the title game.
Hawaii blew a 12-point, second-half lead and was tied at 58, but Jankovic hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:45 to go and the Rainbow Warriors made it stand up.
Justin Bibbins missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer for the 49ers (20-14) with 5 seconds to go, and Noah Blackwell and A.J. Spencer missed potential go-ahead 3s in the final 90 seconds as well.
"I liked our opportunities," Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said. "I have no regrets from Bibbins' look at all. He's our best 3-point shooter and I would take him for a shot to go to the tournament every time."
The 49ers finished 5 for 22 from 3-point range.
Nick Faust scored 17 points before fouling out and Bibbins and Travis Hammonds each scored 12 to lead Long Beach State.
Hawaii held its largest lead, 44-32, with 13:25, but Long Beach State erased it and tied the score at 56 on Faust's 3-pointer with 3:54 to go.
Faust fouled out with 3:27 left, though, and the 49ers were without their leading scorer down the stretch.
Jankovic took advantage and swung the momentum back Hawaii's way with his 3-pointer to make it 61-58, and that was enough to keep the Rainbow Warriors in front in the final breathless minutes.
It was Hawaii's first win in three games against Long Beach State this season.
"The difference this time was our composure," Rainbow Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. "When we needed people to step up, they did."
DAILY DOUBLE
Hawaii's championship win followed a victory by its women's team in its final earlier in the day.
This year will mark the second time both the Hawaii men's and women's teams made it to the NCAA Tournament in the same season. It previously occurred in 1994.
It also marked only the fourth time in Big West history the same school produced the men's and women's tournament champion in the same year.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Bibbins and Faust were named to the all-tournament team for Long Beach State. Jankovic joined MVP Valdes on the first team for Hawaii, and UC Irvine guard Luke Nelson and UC Santa Barbara guard Michael Bryson rounded out the team.
TIP-INS
Long Beach State: Hammonds also fouled out with 1:06 remaining. ... The 49ers only led for 6:49 of the game and never led in the second half. ... They dropped to 5-6 all-time in Big West Tournament championship games.
Hawaii: The Rainbow Warriors won the rebounding battle 35-30. They are 23-0 when winning the rebounding battle this season. ... Jankovic, the conference Player of the Year, played only seven minutes of the first half because of foul trouble. ... They tied the school record for wins in a season.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State: Awaits a possible postseason bid.
Hawaii: Finds out its NCAA Tournament seed Sunday.
Nickname Of UH Men's Teams To Be Rainbow Warriors
Nickname Of UH Men's Teams To Be Rainbow Warriors
HONOLULU - The University of Hawai`i Athletics Department has announced that the nickname of its men's teams will be Rainbow Warriors, rather than Warriors, as was previously announced in February.
Beginning July 1, Rainbow Warriors will be the official nickname of the men's programs, while the women's teams will be Rainbow Wahine.
“The decision on February 13 to change the nickname of the men's teams to Warriors has generated a lot of discussion and we have received both positive and negative feedback,” Ben Jay, UH athletics director, said. “We listened to the public discussion and we went back to the original two questions we asked ourselves - who are we and what is representative of the islands?"
In 2000, UH changed the nickname of the football, men's volleyball, golf, and tennis teams to Warriors, while the men's basketball and swimming & diving teams remained Rainbow Warriors and the baseball team remained Rainbows.
“We initially decided to adopt Warriors as the nickname of our men's teams, since it was used by the majority of our men's programs, including the one with the largest fan following (football),” Jay said. "This is a very subjective and emotional issue and the only clear consensus on this topic over the last 13 years has been that a decision needed to be made to unify our men's teams under one nickname. That goal will still be accomplished as we retain the Rainbow and Warriors names, both of which are near and dear to the hearts of our fans, whom we represent.”
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