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 No,
the Warrior football team did not play in a bowl game, but the
basketball team held the Wolf Pack to a score reminiscent of one.
The Rainbow Warrior squad held Nevada to and anemic 16
second-half points on the way to a 58-40 win.
The night started out with the Rainbows showing a let down after an
emotional win over Fresno State.
Nevada sprinted out to a 15-8 lead.
The Rainbows responded with an 11-3 run.
Going into half-time with a 25-24 lead, the Bows were not
satisfied with their 9-of-29 shooting performance.
Coach Wallace said, "
The talk was as if we were behind, although we were actually ahead."
The Rainbow Warriors now want to win like Champions.
The shooting touch can be hot and cold, but a good defense can come to
play every night.
With that in mind, the Rainbow defense showed its fangs in the
second half.
The defense accounted for 10 sly steals, 7 big blocks, 18 tasty
turnovers, and held Nevada to 29% shooting on the night.
Mike McIntyre was a spark off the bench.
After having a basket called off due to a charging foul, McIntyre
stole a Wolf Pack pass and took it the length of the floor for a lay-up.
This put the Bows up 39-30.
 Savo,
well, is just Savo.
The Yugoslavian workhorse leaves it all on the court night after
night.
Savo hit five three point shots and was the only Rainbow in
double figures in any category.
He fights through screens to get his shot off, and can take a
shot himself as he proved last night.
Savo took a hard shot to the back from Nevada center Sean Paul
with eight minutes left in the game.
The apparent pain was more dramatics than injury related.
As he complained to Coach Wallace on the bench, Wallace replied,
"look in the mirror," referring to the blows that Savo deals
out night after night.
Wallace added, "Savo takes harder shots from Carl (English)
in practice."
Instead of bogging you
down with the details, let's get into some commentary with the Hawaii411
"Balls Out" award.
This award goes out to the player who may not have had the best
statistical performance, but gave 110% with his "balls out"
play. And yes, we will only award this to the male athletes.
 The
first recipient of this award goes to Mike McIntyre.
This senior reserve comes off the bench and plays his ass off for
the team.
He sticks to his man like stink on you-know what, and he's known
to hit the occasional three-pointer and come-up with the well-timed
steal.
When pressed into service as a point-guard in the previous
season, he didn't whine, he just played on.
He is a team player who may not be the star, but his "Balls
Out" play wins ballgames for the Rainbow Warriors.
All Game Photos are courtesy of AP Photo/Ronen Zilberman.
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