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The Maui News
The University of Hawaii men's basketball team used a late 6-2 run to hold off UC Riverside 68-67 in a Hercules Tires Big West Championships quarterfinal game Thursday night at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.
Junior Madut led the third-seeded Rainbow Warriors (17-10) with 17 points to go with eight rebounds. Jerome Desrosiers had 14 points and 12 rebounds, leading UH's dominance on the boards (41-27), and Amoro Lado added 12 points.
The Rainbow Warriors trailed most of the first half, though they kept themselves within striking distance and climbed within 31-30 by halftime after a 3-pointer by Madut.
Madut then opened the second half with a layup to give UH its first lead since early in the first half, and the teams traded the lead throughout the second -- neither team opened up more than a five-point lead.
Free throws put UC Riverside (16-12) up 63-62 with 4:12 remaining, but a jumper by Madut with 2:44 left started the 'Bows' decisive run. Madut capped the spurt with two free throws with 16 seconds left to put Hawaii up 68-65.
After Riverside hit two free throws, Madut missed the front end of a one-and-one. With one last chance, the Highlanders' Wil Tattersall missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending UH to its first conference tournament win since 2016.
The Rainbow Warriors meet second-seeded Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals tonight at 6:30 p.m. HST. The game will be televised on ESPNU.