HONOLULU — Mamadou Ndiaye had 11 points Thursday night to lead UC Irvine to an overtime victory at Hawaii 60-56.
The 7-foot-6 Ndiaye also anchored the Anteaters (18-9, 9-2 Big West) defensive interior that held Hawaii (18-8, 7-5) without a field goal for the final 7:59.
After Keith Shamburger pulled Hawaii within 56-54 on two free throws with 1:25 left in overtime, Irvine made four straight free throws to secure the win.
Will Davis II’s jumper with 4:44 left in regulation gave Irvine its first lead at 50-49 after trailing for almost 15 minutes.
Hawaii went ahead 51-50 on Brandon Spearman’s jumper with 2:59 left. Ndiaye’s free throw 21 seconds later to tie the game was the last point scored in regulation.
Luke Nelson had 12 points to lead Irvine while Davis and Chris McNealy scored 11.
Christian Standhardinger scored 12 for Hawaii and Isaac Fotu added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Women
Hawaii 55, UC Irvine 54: Morgan Mason’s putback at the buzzer in Irvine, Calif., sparked the visiting Rainbow Wahine to their third straight victory.
Mason scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to make up for the absence of leading scorer Kamilah Jackson, who missed her second straight game with injury. UH (14-0) moved into a tie for second place in the Big West with Cal Poly at 8-4.
Camille Buckley scored 17 points with 10 rebounds for the Anteaters (12-13, 7-5), and Vanessa Aguilar added 14 points, including a pair of free throws that gave Irvine a 54-53 lead with 1:27 left.
On UH’s final possession, Shawna-Lei Kuehu (10 points) missed a jumper with six seconds to play, but Mason got the rebound and laid it in as time expired.
BASEBALL
Hawaii 5, Albany 2: Matt Cooper pitched seven strong innings at Les Murakami Stadium in Honolulu, spurring the Rainbow Warriors to their first victory of the season.
There were seven errors in the game, and neither starting pitcher gave up an earned run.
UH (1-4) took advantage of three errors in the seventh to score three runs and take the lead. Juliene Jones’s RBI single tied the score 2-2, and Marcus Doi made the score 3-2 with a single up the middle.
Doi and Austin Wobrock each went 2 for 4. Wobrock doubled and scored in the seventh and drove in a run with a fielder’s choice in the eighth.
Cooper (1-0) struck out five, allowing six hits and a walk and two unearned runs. Eric Gleese got six outs for the save.
In Albany’s season-opener, starter Kevin Archbold went six innings and yielded four hits and a unearned run with two walks and five strikeouts.
SOFTBALL
Hawaii 11, San Jose State 9: The Rainbow Wahine used five home runs, including Kaile Nakao’s three-run blast during an eight-run second inning, to win at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational in Honolulu.
Keiki Carlos and Alyssa Villalpando (3 for 4) each hit two-run homers for UH (8-4) in the second. Lindsey Willmon hit a solo shot in the first inning, and Leisha Li`ili`i went deep with a runner aboard in the fifth.
Heather Morales walked nine batters against the Spartans (7-4), but earned the victory with six innings of work to improve to 5-2. Morales gave up three runs and two hits with a strikeout.
By Stephens Media Hawaii sources