By Tilisha Alexander

Sports Writer

Before a crowd of 2,679 at the Thomas Assembly Center, the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors defeated Tech by a score of 67-60 Saturday, dropping the Bulldogs' record to 8-8 overall and 2-4 in Western Athletic Conference contests.

"The first six minutes of the second half was the story of the game," Tech head coach Keith Richard said. "We had great energy and defensive effort in the first half, but we didn't bring it in the second half. We started slow, and when you play a team like Hawaii like that, they'll pick you apart. And that's exactly what Hawaii did."

Hawaii (12-3, 4-1 WAC) only led Tech by two points, 26-24, at halftime, but the Rainbow Warriors caught fire quickly in the second half, leaving Tech in the dirt. Hawaii shot 60 percent (12-27) from the field in the second half, and Hawaii's Julian Sensley scored 15 of his career-high 19 points in the second half.

"In the second half we didn't come out with any energy," Bulldog junior forward Wayne Powell, who scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, said. "We didn't do the right things to lock in on defense. The first five minutes of the second half killed us."

Hawaii hit 10 of its first 15 shots in the second half, many of which were lay-ups, while Tech surrendered 10 lay-ups in the second half and allowed Sensley to connect on seven of eight shots.

Tech junior guard Donell Allick, who scored 11 points, said they just could not find anybody to step up with intensity defensively.

"Sometimes you've got to adjust to the game, and we're still learning," Allick said. "Hawaii's a good team, and they run their offense well. You might see one play and have it figured out, but they have so many options that it's just tough defensively."

Hawaii maximized its lead to 15 points at 51-36 with 11:29 remaining in the game, but the Bulldogs slowly battled back, breaking Hawaii's lead to five points on a Powell jumper with only 4:59 left on the clock.

But that's as close as the Bulldogs would get as Hawaii hit the shots it needed down the stretch to keep Tech from gaining the victory.

"You can't guard a team that good for only 30 minutes and expect to win," Richard said. "You have to guard them the entire 40 minutes. We didn't do that, and we didn't win because of it."

Hawaii hit on 60 percent (15-25) of its shots in the second half after hitting only 39.3 percent (11-28) of its first-half field goal attempts.

"The most disappointing thing is we had two of the better teams in the WAC so far on our home court, and we had opportunities to win at home and didn't get it done," Richard said. "We're still five or 10 minutes short of beating good teams like Hawaii was tonight. That's what inexperience is. Hopefully we can grow and start playing 40 minute games before the season gets too old."

Powell and Paul Millsap scored 16 each to lead the Bulldogs while Millsap picked up his 11th double-double on the season with 15 rebounds. Powell added seven rebounds for the Bulldogs, who out-rebounded Hawaii 42-30 on the night, and Allick chipped in 11 points.

Fortunately, Tech won the first of four WAC games with a 73-62 beating of the San Jose State University Spartans (5-10, 0-5 WAC) Thursday in the TAC.

JueMichael Young hit a 3-pointer with 44.5 seconds left after scoring a career-high 24 points in the contest.

"Since conference started I knew a big game had to come," Young said. "At the beginning of the WAC season, I only had one or two good games, and I've been waiting for this game to come. It came tonight."

Young hit seven of 14 shots from the floor during the night, including two bombs from long range, while adding an eight of 10 shooting performance from the free-throw line.

Throughout most of the game, the Bulldogs used a different formation playing four guards and a forward.

Richard said he felt San Jose tried to take Millsap and Powell, who added 13 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs, out of the game by fronting the post and double teaming the two post players.

"It all came down to guards, and this was a game where we had to have guard production," Richard said. "As we moved into the game, and the way they were guarding us, we had to make shots because they were working on defending the post and taking our drive."

"Coach (Richard) talked to the guards and showed them their stats, and they had to step up," freshman forward Millsap said. "I think his talk really allowed the guards to see what needed to be done, and they really put out."

And after taking a beating in the post all season, Millsap was grateful for any relief of post-pressure he could get.

"It felt good out there tonight," Millsap said. "They doubled down on us forwards, but that left our guards open. We just kicked it back out to them, and they hit the shots we needed."

The Bulldogs hit on seven of 16 shots from the three-point line in the game, which was an outstanding turnaround for the team all year with only four turnovers and five assists in the first half.

"With 10 turnovers the whole night, all I could say was quit playing. The funny thing was Millsap had none this game," Richard said. "We practiced on numerous things (San Jose) coach Phil Johnson would do, and we had to adjust in the game because we didn't know which play was coming."

Millsap, who had eight points and 12 rebounds, said he agreed with coach Richard about his performance.

"This was one of my best games because I had no turnovers, and I had more open shots," Millsap said. "It felt really good to know that when San Jose was doubling up, JueMichael came through more."

The night ended with the Bulldogs making seven of 16 three-pointers, 10 turnovers and 10 assists in the eleven-point victory.

San Jose head coach Johnson said the Bulldogs' guards did a nice job.

"We knew they were turnover-prone, and we wanted to press half court," Johnson said. "At times we wanted to get up and pick them up full court. Their guards did a nice job. That team (Tech) is better than a lot of people realize."

And Millsap is confident his team will continue winning, as Tech builds upon the home victory.

"Although we had three straight losses, we came back to win this one," Millsap said. "Our performance made us confident knowing we won a game at home."

Young's career-high 24 points led Tech in scoring on the night, followed by Powell's 13 points and Allick's 10 points.