Vulcans to face Rainbow Warriors in exhibition
 
Hawai`i Hilo (3-4) @ Hawai`i (4-2), Saturday, Dec. 9, 7 pm, Honolulu, Stan Sheriff Center
Television on Spectrum, Live Stats at hiloathletics.com, Radio ESPN 1420
 
Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans will step outside of conference and regular season play with an exhibition contest on Saturday against sister school Hawai`i (the game will count for the Rainbow Warriors). Start time is 7 pm at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
Vulcans Take Down Two Different Kinds of Eagles: UH Hilo opened Pacific West Conference play with a pair of impressive victories, topping Biola (80-55) and No. 22 nationally ranked Concordia (90-84). The Vulcans boat raced Biola on Saturday night, hitting 12 three-pointers,  and battled to the wire against a very physical Concordia team before holding off the region's No. 1 ranked team.
 
Two Down, 18 to Go: UH Hilo's modest 2-0 start in Pacific West Conference play is a minor cause for celebration, because it has been a few years since a Vulcan team could claim that record. You have to go back to the 2010-11 season to find an unbeaten start. That Jeff Law-coached team began the conference season 4-0 with victories over Notre Dame de Namur, Academy of Art, Dominican and Hawaii Pacific. They would finish 16-11 on the year and 8-8 in the PacWest, prior to the addition of the southern California private schools in the conference. With the 2-0 mark, the Vulcans are tied for first in the PacWest with Azusa Pacific.
 
Top 25 Love: Coach GE Coleman's team apparently loves to play teams in the Top 25. The Vulcans are 2-0 in such games this season, having topped Western Washington earlier this year (then ranked No. 19) and now No. 22 Concordia. For sure, it is the first time in recent memory that UH Hilo would have two wins over Top 25 teams.
 
Popular in Hilo: Vulcan staff, team and coaches had a crazy week in regards to home venues, but it didn't seem to effect the number of fans coming through the turnstiles. Because of torrential rains in Hilo and wet floor conditions at the UH Hilo Gymnasium, last Thursday's game with California Baptist was postponed. Saturday's game with Biola was moved across the street to Waiakea High School, and Monday's contest with Concordia was rescheduled to the Civic Auditorium, the normal venue for the Vulcans. Even with all the shifting, 634 fans watched the Vulcans on Saturday and 923 did the same on Monday.
 
Glass is Half Full?: The Vulcans lost out on an opportunity to play the PacWest favorite at home when the postponement of the California Baptist game. The contest has been rescheduled to take place on UH Hilo's southern California trip, adding to an already tough slate. The game is set for Tuesday, February 13 in Riverside, in the middle of five games in ten days for the Vulcans. The positive part? The Vulcans will now get a chance to play in CBU's brand new Special Events Center, site of this years' Pacific West Conference tournament.
 
Their Shirts are Now Red: Coach Coleman announced yesterday that senior forward Brian Ishola and freshman guard Kylan Mann will redshirt in 2017-18. Ishola was the Vulcan's leading rebounder last year (8.7 per game), second in the PacWest in that category. He was also the team's leading returning scorer (15.5). Ishola has had a nagging injury that caused him to miss pre-season practices and the first seven games of the season.
 
Twin Players of the Week: There rarely has been a tougher call for the choice of Vulcan players of the week. Splitting the difference, Trey Ingram was named the Pepsi Hawaii Athlete of the Week, and Denhym Brooke was selected as the Hawaii Tribune-Herald Athlete of the Week. Ingram had back-to-back big games in the wins over Biola and Concordia. The St. Martin's transfer had 24 points and hit 11 of 12 free throws in the upset of Concordia, and he had 15 points and eight assists against Biola. Brooke, a 6-7 forward, had a double-double against Concordia with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and he also had four blocked shots. He was perfect from the field against Biola and had 14 points. He missed only one total shot in the two games and was 11-12 from the field.
 
Full House: After playing most of the 2016-17 season with just eight healthy players, head coach GE Coleman has a full roster at his disposal this season with 14 players to choose from. Included in that group are three players with starting experience, two NCAA Division II transfers that were starters at their schools last year, three junior college transfers, four players who were in UHH uniforms or red-shirted last year and three freshmen.
 
Trio: Returnees that Coleman can count on are point guard Ryley Callaghan is back (11.2 ppg, 4.0 ast.), Randan Berinobis (8.6/6.2) and sophomore Eric Wattree (6.5 ppg).
 
Welcome to Hilo: Newcomers include senior guard Trey Ingram, who started the last three seasons for St. Martin's, averaging 12.6 points a game a year ago. Another Division II starter is Denhym Brooke, who put up ten points and seven rebounds a game for BYU-Hawaii. JC transfer Devin Johnson (Lower Columbia CC) was a First Team All-NWAC pick and senior guard Mike Golden (Ocean County JC) averaged nearly 20 points a game last year.
 
A Look Back: UH Hilo finished 10-16 last season and were 8-12 in the PacWest. Senior guard Parker Farris averaged 23.3 points a game and was a Second Team All-PacWest pick. The Vulcans played most of the season with just eight players.
 
Rainbow Warrior Words: Hawai`i is 4-2 heading into a Wednesday night game against Prairie View A&M (Texas). They have losses to Nevada and Utah, and wins over Adams State, Troy, North Dakota and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Hawai`i, who went 14-16 last year and 8-8 in the Big West Conference, return four starters. One of those returnees red-shirted a year ago, and is averaging 13.0 points and 6.2 rebounds to lead the team (Mike Thomas). Hawai`i defeated the Vulcans 88-55 a year ago, and the Rainbow Warriors lead the all-time series, 8-0.
 
Around the Loop: 12 of the 14 teams in the Pacific West Conference already have at least one loss, leaving UH Hilo and Azusa Pacific at the top of the heap. Overall, Concordia is 8-3 and tied for the top spot in the D2SIDA west region poll with Cal Poly Pomona. Chaminade (5-3) is tied for fifth in the region poll (they beat Cal of the Pac-12) and California Baptist (6-2) is eighth.
 
Looking ahead: After the game with Hawai`i, the Vulcans will return to Oahu for a PacWest match-up at Chaminade on Dec. 16 and Hawai`i Holiday Classic tournament games on the 17^th (Montana State-Billings) and 18^th (Tampa) at the Hawai`i Convention Center.
 
Head Coach Vulcan head coach GE Coleman begins his fifth season in 2017-18 as the leader of the program. Prior to arriving on the Big Island, Coleman was the associate head coach at Central Washington for six seasons, and an assistant with the Wildcats for another five years prior to that. He was an assistant for two seasons at Eastern Washington.