HILO, Hawaii—Alexa Jacobs' driving lay-up with 4.6 seconds left gave Hawaii Hilo a two-point lead and moments later the upset win over Concordia on Saturday night at the Civic Auditorium, 76-73.

The senior guard ran down the clock, crossed over at the top of the key, drove the lane and laid it in with her left (opposite) hand to send the home crowd into a frenzy. After an Eagle timeout, the visitors turned the ball over and fouled Kim Schmelz who made one of two shots to account for the final three-point margin.

The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for the Vulcans, and it came at the expense of one of the better teams in the Pacific West Conference. Hawaii Hilo improved to 2-8 on the season and to 2-5 in the conference. The Eagles dropped to 4-3 in the PWC and to 6-7 overall. Concordia had won their two previous games on Oahu, defeating Chaminade and BYU-Hawaii.

Schmelz led four Vulcans in double figures with 15 points. Sydney Mercer added 14, Sharlei Graham-Bernisto popped in 13 and Amber Vaughn had 11. The latter two, both Hilo High School grads, did all of their work coming off the bench.

Sopavy Seng of Concordia with a season-high 32 points, 28 of them in the first half.

For UHH head coach David Kaneshiro, whose team lost by just one point (66-65) to Azusa Pacific on Tuesday, it was a special win.

"There were a lot of positive emotions in the locker room," he said after the game. "We were close earlier this week, and to lose like that can be very discouraging. But we battled back tonight and just coming after them. This group has great heart."

It was a back and forth game that featured an uber-high scoring first half, followed by a more deliberate second half pace.

The Vulcans jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first minute and a half, forcing a Concordia timeout. They stretched that margin to 8-3 and 10-4 before the Eagles began to heat up. Seng hit her first  three-pointer to pull her team within three (10-7) and igniting a 7-0 run and giving the Eagles their first lead of the night five minutes in.

With 2:10 left in the first quarter and the scored tied at 19-19, Concordia used another Seng trey and a three by Annie Studdert to take a 27-21 lead into the second quarter. After the short break, Seng really began to heat up.

The 5-7 junior guard, who came into the contest averaging just 11 points a game, hit a trio of three-pointers in the first three minutes of the third quarter, giving her team a 12-point lead (38-26). She would go on to score 16 points in the quarter and have 28 in the first half. She hit six-of-seven three-point attempts, eight-of-11 from the field and six-of-eight from the free throw line to help give her team a 51-42 lead at intermission. As a team, the Eagles nailed 10 of 16 treys in the first half, but UHH stayed close by shooting 50 percent from the field and were 5-of-13 from beyond the arch.

But the Vulcans came out of the locker room fired up, starting the third quarter on a 6-0 run and outscoring the team from Irvine, Calif. 12-3 in the opening four minutes of the period. A pair of free throws by Graham-Bernisto tied the contest at 54-54 before yet another Seng trey gave the lead back to Concordia. The Eagles would hold a slight 62-60 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

A Vaughn basket tied the game up immediately to start the fourth quarter and neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way. The score was tied at 70-70 with 2:42 left, and four possessions later, the score was the same.  One free throw by Studdert gave the Eagles a 71-70 lead with a minute to play, but a Schmelz jumper with 36 seconds left put UHH back on top (72-71).

A foul on the same play sent Seng to the free throw at the other end, but she missed both shots and Vanessa Mancera was fouled, and she converted one of two to make it 73-71 with 34 seconds remaining. With 24 second left, Concordia's Gaby Johnson made two charity tosses to tie it at 73-73.

Kaneshiro called timeout, and out of the huddle Jacobs worked the clock down to about eight seconds before making her winning move to the basket.

Pilialoha Kailiawa had nine rebounds, filling in for two of UHH's top board-getters, Patience Taylor and Asia Smith, who are still out injured. The Vulcans are also without the services of senior guard Lauren Hong.

"I know we are getting better and better," Kaneshiro added. "And we are playing better against good teams. Everyone is contributing, each person is stepping up."

The Vulcans will hit the road next week for a Saturday night game at BYU-Hawaii, start time is 5 p.m.