RIVERSIDE, Calif.—This one escalated in a hurry.
Playing No. 4 nationally ranked California Baptist with little room for error, Hawai`i Hilo allowed this one get away early as the Lancers cruised to a 97-56 win over the Vulcans on Monday night in front of 732 fans at Van Dyne Gym.
The Lancers, ranked No. 1 in the west region, improved to 20-1 on the season and to 12-1 in the Pacific West Conference, moving out to a half-game lead over Hawai`i Pacific. The Vulcans fell to 4-8 in league play and they are now 6-12 overall.
Parker Farris led the Vulcans with 26 points and with five rebounds.
The Vulcans dug themselves a big hole early in this one. They scored only two points in the first nine minutes, hitting just one of their first ten shots and zero of their first five three-point attempts. By then it was already 19-2 in favor of the home team. At the ten-minute mark, the scoreboard showed CBU on top, 25-4.
The Vulcans then played the Lancers more evenly over the next ten minutes and in fact cut the margin to 13 points with a minute and half before the break (43-30). But CBU still went into the locker room with a 51-31 lead at halftime, thanks in part to 18 first half points from Michael Smith, the fifth-leading scorer in the nation.
The only real mystery left surrounded the shootout between the PacWest's top two scorers, Smith and Farris. CBU won that one as well, although barely (Smith 27, Farris 26).
The Lancers pulled away in the second half, using their bench against a smaller Vulcan squad—both in height and in numbers. UHH used just eight players on the night, while ten different Lancers found the scoring column. CBU outrebounded their visitors, 44-23, and they bombed in 13 of 30 three-point attempts. CBU outscored UH Hilo in the second half, 46-25.
The Vuls shot just 42 percent from the field, hit only 10 of 18 free throw attempts and deposited 6 of 20 treys launches.
Randan Berinobis joined Farris in double figures with 11 points. Smith had nine rebounds to go with his 27 points for CBU and Kalidou Diouf added 21 points and seven boards for the victors.
The Vulcans will next get a rematch with Azusa Pacific on Thursday at the Felix Center. Start time is 7:30 Pacific time.
