‘Bows drop final tour game

The Sydney Kings prevented the Hawaii men’s basketball team from breaking even in its final game of the Down Under tour.

UH trailed by nine at halftime, cut it to four points after three quarters, but gave up a 12-0 run in the fourth as the Kings won going away, 82-65, Friday night at Abottsleigh College (Thursday night in Hawaii), leaving UH to finish 1-3 on its foreign expedition.

The Rainbow Warriors got 15 points from shooting guard Eddie Stansberry, 14 points by Aussie Jack Purchase and 11 points by captain Brocke Stepteau. UH was held to 35.3 percent shooting, to 51.7 percent for the Kings of the NBL.

The Kings’ most notable player, former NBA center Andrew Bogut, was not in action. But Sydney got 37 combined points from Kyle Adnam and Brian Bowen.

“There were a lot of positives. We wore down at the end, and that’s a credit to Sydney. And those guys,” UH coach Eran Ganot said in a postgame video provided by UH. “They’re a good team, good depth and physicality. Thought we did a good job to win the boards. When they were trying to separate we hung in there, fought through and made it close. Really for 85 percent of the game. So, I told the guys in the locker room, right now, the good thing about this trip is, playing against this kind of experience and teams, quick turnarounds, will help us long-term if we handle it the right way.”

“I thought there were a lot of positives, things we can build off. Guys got a lot of reps and experience with this new group. And then there’s some things we’re exposed in now. We have about three months before the season starts and it’s an opportunity for us to make a big jump if we handle it right, and I expect us to.”

The final box score of the trip is here.

A few more shots of the final leg of the trip provided by UH: