HILO, Hawai`i—For a game in which Seattle Pacific led for all but 19 seconds of the contest, this one had more drama than a Blacklist episode.
The final box score will show the Falcons beating their host Hawaii Hilo 72-66 on Saturday night, but the scoreboard only tells part of the story.
Parker Farris (30) and
Brian Ishola (22) scored 52 of UHH's 66 points but it wasn't quite enough to overcome Seattle Pacific's size and rebound advantage in the non-conference loss. SPU improved to 5-5 with the physical victory, while the Vulcans dropped to 3-6.
The Vulcans, playing in their first game of the year at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, scored the first basket of the game on an inside bucket by Ishola, but that would turn out to be their only lead of the night. They would trail by as many as 12 points in the game, but nonetheless still were within one trey of tying the game after Farris' bomb three-pointer with 17.5 seconds left.
But the Vulcans, who had 27 fouls called on them compared to 19 for SPU, had to foul and Gavin Long and Joe Rassmussen hit free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the verdict.
The Falcons, big and stout inside, pulled down 47 rebounds to UHH's 25. That, and the Vulcans' coolness from the floor (35 percent) was too much to overcome. The Vulcans were also just 4-of-17 from three-point range.
There were 46 fouls called in the game, including three technical fouls. Three Vulcans fouled out (Ishola,
Ryley Callaghan and
Randan Berinobis).
The first half was a physical tussle as the Falcons kept the Vulcans away from the basket. They kept them off the boards too, as UHH didn't pull down their first rebound until 10:36 was left in the first half. SPU had the first 11 rebounds in the game and held a 24-11 edge in that category at the halftime break.
The visitors led for almost the entire first 20 minutes, sparked in part by Sharif Khan's 10 points off the bench. UHH countered with 11 points from Farris, but the Vulcans were a cool 31 percent from the field and just 2-of-11 from three-point range in the first half. Despite all that bad news, the Vulcans only trailed 31-26 at intermission.
Seattle Pacific went on a 11-4 run to start the second half and built a 42-30 lead just three minutes in. But the Vulcans kept battling back, pulling to within four points at 7:55 (
Darius Johnson-Wilson), to 61-55 on a Ishola runner with just under five minutes to play and to four points (63-59) on another Johnson-Wilson score with 2:50 left.
A Farris leaner with 38 seconds left brought the Vulcans to within three points (66-63) for the first time since the halfway point of the first half.
Farris' 35-footer had the crowd screaming, and a near Falcon turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass had them on their feet, but SPU held on to the ball and the game to notch the victory.
Freshman Tony Miller had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Falcons of the GNAC. Farris hit 11-of-11 free throws on his way to 30 points. Ishola just missed his third straight double-double with 22 points and eight rebounds. No one else had more than six points for the Vuls.
The Vulcans will return to Pacific West Conference play on Monday, hosting Dominican at the Civic Auditorium. Start time is 7:30 p.m.
