Saint Louis' Jarin Hall-Monis goes up for a shot against Kapolei. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Kapolei's Christopher Dillard goes up for a shot as Saint Louis' Jimmy Nunuha III defends. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Wed, Dec 26, 2012 @ Manoa Gym

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Kapolei

53

Saint Louis

35

Final	1	2	3	4
Kapolei (12-1, 20-10)	9	17	10	17	53
Saint Louis (3-8, 8-12)	11	9	8	7	35

J. Hall-Monis 8 pts  2/7 FTs

C. Dillard 14 pts  0/1 FTs

Kapolei outscored Saint Louis by a combined 34-16 margin in quarters two and four to win an opening round game of the Merv Lopes Invitational at Manoa Gym.

The Hurricanes broke ahead for a quick 4-0 lead, but the Crusaders went on a spurt of their own to take a 6-4 advantage near the midway point of the first.

It appeared the opening quarter would end with the score knotted at 9-all, but the game clock was reset to 5 seconds following a timer error. The added time proved to be just enough for Saint Louis guard Kevin Marks to take the inbounds the length of the court for a leaning layup just as the buzzer sounded, putting the Crusaders on top 11-9 at the end of one quarter of play.

In somewhat of a contrast from a more wide-open first, Kapolei slowed the tempo in the second quarter, and turned to their inside game to provide some offensive punch. Post Michael Kapoi was the primary recipient of the looks down low from guards Curtis Tavares and Elia McKeague, and he responded by scoring 6 points in the quarter.

McKeague came off of the bench following an injury to Tavares early in the second quarter and he came up big as well, providing spark on both sides of the ball, finishing the half with 4 points, 4 assists and a steal.

Saint Louis also got some production off of its bench, as Ihaka Johnson rattled home 8 points to try and keep the Crusaders close, but the home team trailed 26-20 at halftime.

Both teams came out the halftime playing fairly evenly, with Christopher Dillard leading the charge with 6 points in the quarter for Kapolei, while Jarin Hall-Monis and Jimmy Nunuha III scored 4 a piece for Saint Louis.

Hurricanes' led 36-28 at the end of three quarters.

Despite falling behind by a double-digit margin heading into the final minutes of the contest, Saint Louis would continue to work for opportunities and put together a mini 6-0 run with just over 2 minutes left in regulation to force a Kapolei timeout.

Dillard led all scorers with 14 points, 10 of them coming in the second half and added 6 rebounds. Kapoi scored 10, and McKeague came off the bench to contribute 6 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Hall-Monis and Johnson led the Crusaders with 8 points a piece.