Rainbow Warriors roll to 2-0 with 92-73 win over Niagara | News, Sports, Jobs

The Maui News

Noel Coleman scored a game-high 21 points as the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team rolled to 2-0 on the season with a 92-73 victory over Niagara on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.

Coleman was 7 of 12 from the field, part of a 59.6 percent shooting night for the Rainbow Warriors, who played the Purple Eagles (0-3) in a game that was only announced last week. He was 3 of 7 from behind the arc as UH was 9 of 18 overall.

North Carolina transfer Justin McCoy posted a double-double for UH, posting 12 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. JoVon McClanahan and Bernardo Da Silva each added 14 points.

After Niagara scored the first bucket of the game, the Rainbow Warriors tied it up at 2-2 on a pull-up jumper by McClanahan and then took the lead for good on Coleman’s first 3-pointer with the game not even 2 minutes old.

Another Coleman 3 gave UH a 20-4 lead with 12:22 to go in the first half, and the Warriors went into the locker rooms ahead 48-38.

A layup by Harlan Obioha in the opening minute of the second half cut UH’s lead to eight points, but that was as close as the Purple Eagles would get. Hawaii’s lead grew to as many as 24 points.

UH dominated the paint, outrebounding Niagara 36-24 and outscoring them 44-32.

Braxto Bayless led Niagara with 20 points, and Kwan Marble II added 11. The Purple Eagles shot 26 of 56 (46.4 percent) from the field.

The Rainbow Warriors next host Northern Arizona on Tuesday — the late tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. due to the Stan Sheriff Center hosting the relocated Maui Invitational earlier in the day.

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