Hawai’i downs Pacific late for 16th Rainbow Classic crown

HONOLULU – Back on top. 

Hawai’i (3-0) completed a clean sweep of the 2024 OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic field on Monday, pulling away from the Pacific Tigers (3-1) late, 76-66, to win the event for the first time since 2017. It is UH’s 16th time hoisting the champions’ trophy for the Rainbow Classic and third time under head coach Eran Ganot. 

Leading the way for Hawai’i were a pair of offseason transfer portal additions in Marcus Greene and Gytis Nemeikša, combining for nearly half of UH’s total offensive production off the bench to help the Rainbow Warriors to the last laugh in a back-and-forth championship game against the Tigers. Greene chipped in a season-high 18 points, 16 of which came after halftime, while Nemeikša recorded his first double-double of his UH career with 18 points and 10 rebounds. 

Hawai’i started slowly, hitting on just one of six shots from the field as Pacific raced out to a 9-4 advantage by the first media timeout. Akira Jacobs helped UH come alive, drilling a 3-pointer to push the Rainbow Warriors out to their first lead of the night following the break before Nemeikša and center Tanner Christensen helped power UH to a seven-point cushion with 11:26 left in the opening half. 

Pacific started to cut into the lead with under six minutes before halftime, seeing junior forward Elijah Fisher work his way to the line six times as he put multiple UH defenders into foul trouble while knotting the game at 27 with 4:06 to play. The Tigers looked to end the half with an avalanche, moving back in front by four before Hawai’i freshman Aaron Hunkin-Claytor‘s steal and score in transition helped the Rainbow Warriors keep the game within a basket as they went to the locker room down two, 37-35. 

After going 0-for-5 from the field in the opening 20 minutes, Marcus Greene entered into the second half action after a minute and started to get loose for Hawai’i with six of the first nine points for the Rainbow Warriors to push back in front, 44-42. Hawai’i and Pacific continued to trade baskets, seeing a single point separating the two sides with 7:30 left in regulation of the OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic championship. 

Christensen drilled four consecutive free throws to give Hawai’i some breathing room and Greene delivered clutch bucket after clutch bucket down the stretch to maintain a nine-point cushion over the Tigers. Nemeikša delivered backbreaking blow against Pacific, putting back an errant Kody Williams free throw attempt to give UH the biggest lead of the night with 51 seconds left. 

Elijah Fisher scored a game-high 21 points (13-17 FT) in the loss for the Tigers, who have not won a game against the Rainbow Warriors in the islands since 1987. The former consensus five-star recruit received all-Tournament team honors for Pacific along with Elias Ralph, who had 17 points and eight rebounds in the championship game loss. 

Hawai’i’s defense found a great deal of success after the halftime break, holding Pacific to 35 percent shooting from the field and without a single 3-point make in the final 20 minutes. 

Tanner Christensen earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honors with his third straight strong performance for Hawai’i, posting 14 points and seven boards against Pacific. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 15 points, 7.3 rebounds and a block per contest through UH’s three Rainbow Classic contests and was joined by Greene and sophomore captain Tom Beattie on the all-Tournament team as representatives for the champion Rainbow Warriors. 

Hawai’i returns to action on November 17, hosting Weber State in a final tune up before nationally ranked North Carolina visits the Rainbow Warriors later that week.