Hawaii 55, Oral Roberts 54

HONOLULU (AP) -- Bobby Nash hit a 3-pointer with one second left

as Hawaii defeated Oral Roberts 55-54 in a battle of unbeaten teams

in the semifinals of the Rainbow Classic.

After Oral Roberts' Larry Owens missed the front-end of a

one-and-one free throw situation with 10 seconds remaining

Wednesday night, Hawaii's Matthew Gipson rebounded the ball and

passed to Julian Sensley who then gave it to Nash. Nash's basket

went through the hoop as time expired.

The game-winner capped a close second half that featured 12 lead

changes and four ties.

Oral Roberts took a 52-51 lead with less than five minutes

remaining on Luke Spencer-Gardner's two free throws. An Owens'

basket made it 54-51, but Hawaii cut into the lead on Gipson's free

throw with 2:51 left.

Gipson scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds off the bench to

lead the Rainbow Warriors (9-0) while Matt Gibson added 10 off the

bench. Ken Tutt led Oral Roberts (8-1) with 16 points and Caleb

Green added 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Hawaii will face Southern California (6-3) in the tournament's

championship game Thursday night, while Oral Roberts will meet

Alabama-Birmingham (6-3) in the third-place game.