JAN 2, 1952: Ed Edralin to Fred Furukawa saves the day

On this date in 1952, former Saint Louis star and future Circle of Honor inductee Fred Furukawa made UH fans pull a U-Turn.

Hawaii beat Memphis State 68-61 in two overtimes at the Civic Auditorium long after fans seemed to give up on the Rainbows. Hawaii trailed 49-47 with 15 seconds left and the crowd filing out when Ed Edralin stole Phil Hodson‘s inbounds pass and flipped it to Furukawa, who laid it in for the tie game.

Hodson had been fouled and chose to inbound the ball rather than shoot the clinching free throw. Larry Isacksen took over for six points in the second overtime and Hawaii ran away with the victory.

Tommy Yasuhara and Bill Lee led Hawaii with 15 points each and Furukawa collected 10.