HONOLULU – Zigmars Raimo had 14 points and 17 rebounds for his first career double-double, Jack Purchase added 14 points and 10 boards and Hawaii beat Colorado 70-62 in overtime on Sunday afternoon in the Diamond Head Classic consolation semifinals.
The first half was a defensive struggle for both teams as Colorado shot 27.6 percent from the floor and Hawaii shot 30.8 percent as the teams were tied at 24 at halftime.
Late in the second half, Colorado led by six points with under four minutes remaining, but Hawaii came back behind a 10-2 run. Purchase hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 54 and Brocke Stepteau made a driving layup on their next possession to give Hawaii a lead with 32 seconds left in regulation. McKinley Wright IV answered with a jumper, but missed the chance at a 3-point play and Purchase was off on a 3-point attempt before the buzzer.
Stepteau opened the scoring in the extra session with a 3-pointer and capped it with two free throws with eight seconds left in Hawaii’s first overtime game of the season. Colorado only made one field goal in overtime and went 1-of-6 from the floor, and were outscored 14-6 in the extra period. In addition, Colorado shot just 33.9 percent from the floor (21-of-62) and was outrebounded 48-35. The Rainbow Warriors improved to 2-1 this season against Pac-12 teams.
Eddie Stansberry chipped in with 18 points for Hawaii (7-5) and Stepteau finished with 13.
Wright had 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting and had eight rebounds for the Buffaloes (8-3), who will play the loser of the Rhode Island-Charlotte game in the seventh-place game at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. They will then begin Pac-12 play at Arizona on Thursday, Jan. 3. Lucas Siewert added 19 points and Tyler Bey grabbed 10 rebounds. Colorado dropped its second consecutive game after it came into the tournament with a six-game winning streak.
Neither team had a double-digit lead.
Durango Herald Sports Writer Brendan Ploen contributed to this report.
