Matadors Fall to Rainbow Warriors, 78-89

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Honolulu, HI - The CSUN Matadors (10-19, 5-10 BWC) fell to the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (23-4, 12-2 BWC), 78-89, on Saturday night in Stan Sheriff Center. The Matadors hung even with the Rainbow Warriors throughout the first half, but Hawai'i picked up a lead through the early part of the second half and was able to maintain it through the end of the game.

Junior Aaron Parks led CSUN In scoring with a season high-tying 18 points, with sophomore Jerron Wilbut right behind him with 17. Junior Kendall Smith added 15 and sophomore Tavrion Dawson joined the trio in double digits with 11.

Senior Tre Hale-Edmerson led the team with seven rebounds on Saturday, which moves him up to fifth place all-time on CSUN's rebounds list. Hale-Edmerson also contributed five assists on the night and Smith and Parks added six rebounds apiece.

"We match up well with these guys; it was a really good game," said Head Coach Reggie Theus, explaining that, "I thought in the second half, we took way too many bad shots."

He continued, "For the most part, I thought it was a hard fought basketball game. I don't have any complaints about how hard my guys played."

The Rainbow Warriors were barely a step ahead of the Matadors throughout the first half, with CSUN within a basket or two for the first 10 minutes and then fighting for the lead for the second 10 minutes. Hawai'i's largest lead of the half was nine points, and CSUN didn't let them get closer than five after the 13-minute mark.

Sophomore Zacarry Douglas tied the game at 37 on a free throw with 2:43 left in the first half and again at 39 after two more free throws. Wilbut put CSUN on top for the first time with just under two minutes on the clock and the Rainbow Warriors barely snuck ahead going into the halftime buzzer. The Matadors shot 56 percent to Hawai'i's 54 percent in the first half.

The second half started out just how the first period did, fast-paced with the Rainbow Warriors maintaining a slight advantage. Hawai'i slowly increased its lead until it led by 11 at about the midway point of the half and the score stayed around there for the remainder of the game. Three consecutive free throws by Parks and a dunk by Wilbut weren't enough to put the Matadors back in it in the final minute.

CSUN struggled shooting 11-for-36 in the second half and finished the game shooting 42 percent to Hawai'i's 53 percent. The Matadors rebounded even with the Rainbow Warriors at 35 and scored 48 points in the paint over Hawai'i's 44. However, the Rainbow Warriors were successful at the free throw line 29 out of 37 times, while the Matadors shot 70 percent (19-of-27).

For Hawai'i, Stefan Jankovic scored a team-high 28 points and Roderick Bobbitt led the team with seven rebounds.

The Matadors have the week off before playing their last game of the season next Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. against UC Davis. CSUN will honor senior Tre Hale-Edmerson following the second game of an In-N-Out Doubleheader with the women's team.

Matadors Fall to Rainbow Warriors, 78-89

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Team Stats

Aaron Parks

Jerron Wilbut

Kendall Smith

Tavrion Dawson

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Zacarry Douglas

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Jerron Wilbut