In Wednesday night’s third annual Hawai’i vs. Cal Poly knock-down, drag-out Big West Conference men’s basketball opener, the Rainbow Warriors stood toe-to-toe with the visiting Mustangs and this time battled their way to a hard-fought 86-73 victory.
A passionate and vocal crowd of 4,319 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Roderick Bobbitt score a game-high 21 points and Aaron Valdes add 20 points as the Rainbow Warriors improved to 12-2 overall. The Mustangs, who prevailed in last year’s overtime slugfest, fell to 6-8.
Starting post Stefan Jankovic added 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Isaac Fleming contributed 12 points, five assists and three rebounds off the bench for UH, which converted 34 of 42 free throws (81 percent).