Basketball (Men) 1998-99

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Cartwright's free throws seal the deal as UH advances to the semis of the Rainbow Classic
In the span of 11.4 seconds, it went from "Eaux, neaux" to "Oh, yes."

That's how long it took for senior guard Casey Cartwright to sink four consecutive free throws and push Hawaii out of a five-game skid and into the championship bracket of the 35th Rainbow Classic men's basketball tournament.

Thanks to the 54-51 win over the Ragin' Cajuns of Southwestern Louisiana -- and the schedule-dictating ESPN -- the host Rainbows are in tomorrow's 5:30 p.m. semifinal game against North Carolina-Charlotte. The 49ers ended Murray State's perfect season with an 88-75 victory in yesterday's first contest at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Tomorrow's 8 p.m. marquee semifinal will feature the winners of today's games -- Mississippi State-Texas at 5 p.m. and Florida State-Princeton at 7:30 p.m. Tomorrow's consolation play begins at 11 a.m.

"I wasn't really thinking about anything except wanting to hit those free throws so we could finally get that losing streak over with," said Cartwright, who led the Rainbows with 15 points. "Fortunately, they went in and we won the ball game.

"We were determined to come out of tonight's game with a victory."

Hawaii (3-7) had led at halftime in four of its losses and the thought of losing another in the final 20 minutes crept into the collective mind of the Rainbows. They survived a pressing USL defense that forced 11 second-half turnovers and a lapse on their help defense that allowed USL guard Blane Harmon to run loose for four baskets (and 9 of his 14 points) in the final 3:31.

"We haven't been playing good in the second half," Hawaii junior point guard Johnny White said. "It was in the back of our heads, but we had to shake it out. We had to play hard and play to win. It feels great."

But it wasn't easy.

Hawaii led by as many as 11 midway through the the second half, 40-29. The Rainbows' last field goal of the game came with 5:47 to go on an alley-oop pass from Phil Czernin to White, giving UH a 44-36 lead.

Hawaii needed to sink eight of its final 12 free-throw attempts to fend off hard-charging USL (4-5). Twice the Ragin' Cajuns drew within a point only to be rebuffed by Cartwright's heroics from the line.

His two free throws with 12.7 seconds to go put the Rainbows ahead, 54-51. USL's final play was designed to get Harmon open for a 3-pointer off a screen.

Harmon, bothered by a back spasm late in the game, appeared to hurt his back again as he got a pass off to USL's lone senior, Reginald Poole. Poole's 3-point attempt missed the mark and the Rainbows got the second-half collapse monkey off their backs.

"I had a good look at it," said Poole, who finished with 13 points and a career-high 21 rebounds. "From where I was standing, it looked like it was going in.

"Hawaii has some very big, physical guys and the refs let us play tonight. Hawaii is a good team, but their record doesn't reflect it. Once they find their chemistry, they can beat anyone on a given night."

It took a team effort for the Rainbows to hand the Ragin' Cajuns their sixth loss in seven road games. Junior forward Marquette Alexander, hampered by foul trouble, finished with 11 points and senior center Erin Galloway came up with big rebounds and blocked shots.

Hawaii was outrebounded, 51-31. Poole's night was huge, but hs still fell far short of the Classic record for rebounds in a game (30), held by Rainbow associate head coach Bob Nash.

"It wasn't pretty at the end, but the guys stayed with it and didn't drop their heads like they have been," Rainbow coach Riley Wallace said. "If the guys had played like this in the second half earlier in the season, we'd probably have more wins.

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