LACEY, Wash.--Saint Martin's hit 11 three-pointers, the majority of those in the second half, to clip visiting Hawai`i Hilo, 97-89 on Tuesday night at Marcus Pavilion.

The Saints, of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) remained unbeaten on the year at 3-0. The Vulcans fell to 1-2 despite another spirited effort on the road against a solid squad.

UHH, who led 39-36 at the half, had five players in double figures led by Parker Farris' 23 points. Farris hit 12-of-12 free throw attempts and also had five assists. Arnold Silva had a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 11 rebounds and Darius Johnson-Wilson just missed the same by one rebound for the third consecutive game (19 points, 9 boards). Ryley Callaghan added 16 points and Brian Ishola had 13 points and five boards in his Vulcan debut. The North Dakota State transfer missed the first two games with an injury.

The Vulcans had the scant halftime lead and were tied with the Saints at 46-46 with 14:30 to go in the game. But the hosts, who have also beaten Pacific West Conference squads Fresno Pacific and Point Loma this year, went on a 8-0 run that extended to a 17-4 blitz over a span that lasted just over three minutes. They had four treys during that sequence, including two by Tyler Copp who would finish with a game-high 24 points.

SMU would never trail again and would push that lead up to 15 points.

But the Vulcans gamely battled back. They trimmed the margin to six points with 1:50 left on a Ishola free throw, and then twice cut the deficit to four points--once on a rebound basket by Silva (83-79) and again on a Callaghan lay-in (85-81). The foul fest then began and the Saints would convert and lead by as many as seven points with Copp nailing six-of-six in the last 1:36. Another Ishola basket would slice the difference to four points again (93-89) with less than a minute to play, but they would get no closer.

Trey Ingram had 19 for SMU and Brandon Kenilvort added 18.

The Vulcans won the rebound battle (49-39), but hit only 3-of-14 three-point attempts (SMU was 11-of-26). Saint Martin's also got 48 bench points on the night.

With the three-game trip to the Northwest complete, the Vulcans will return home to the practice floor before taking on UH-Manoa on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at the Stan Sheriff Center.