Four games in eight NoCal days next for Vulcan men
 
Hawai`i Hilo (4-8/3-2 PWC) @ Fresno Pacific (4-13/2-7 PWC), Saturday, Jan. 13, 4:30 p.m. PT, Special Events Center, Fresno, Calif.
Hawai`i Hilo @ Notre Dame de Namur (2-10/1-6 PWC), Monday, Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m. PT, Walter Gleason Gymnasium, Belmont, Calif.
Hawai`i Hilo @ Holy Names (7-10/3-4 PWC), Thursday, Jan. 18, 7:30 p.m. PT, Tobin Gymnasium, Oakland, Calif.
Hawai`i Hilo @ Dominican (3-11/2-5 PWC), Saturday, Jan. 20, 4 p.m. PT, Conlan Events Center, San Rafael, Calif.
Live Stream/Live Stats at www.hiloathletics.com (no radio broadcast for this trip)
 
Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans tip-off a road trip crucial to their Pacific West Conference tournament hopes with a Saturday afternoon encounter at Fresno Pacific (4:30 pm PT). UH Hilo heads to northern California with a 3-2 conference record, sitting in seventh place in the PacWest (top six teams in March go to tourney). All four opponents are behind the Vulcans in the conference standings, but life on the road in the PacWest is no carnival.
 
Good News, Bad News: The Vulcans opened January with a win over Notre Dame de Namur (73-65) to improve to 3-1 in PacWest play, but they fell also fell to a physical Academy of Art squad two nights later (74-64). The Vulcans are now 4-8 overall.
 
Welcome Back: Senior guard Ryley Callaghan had missed and/or suffered through UH Hilo's final three games in December with bruised ribs, but came back against Notre Dame de Namur with a vengeance last week. The sharpshooter hit 5-of-9 shots from three-point range and finished with 21 points to help lead the Vulcans over the Argonauts.
 
Other Clippings from the Civic: In the victory over NDNU, Eric Wattree had 11 points, freshman Cleo Cain came off the bench to post a collegiate-high 10 points and Randan Berinobis had a season-best 12 rebounds…In the loss to the Urban Knights, junior post Devin Johnson had a season-best 23 points and 10 rebounds, giving him 31 points and 18 boards in the two contests…Callaghan added 12 points and five assists, Trey Ingram had ten points and five assists and Denhym Brooke just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine boards.
 
Stat Story: Senior guard Trey Ingram leads the Vulcans in scoring at 15.4 points per game, with Ryley Callaghan right behind him (14.7). Three other players are in double figures, with Devin Johnson checking in with 11.4 ppg, followed by Denhym Brooke (10.5). Johnson and Brooke are the rebound leaders (6.5) with Randan Berinobis next (6.1). Ingram (45) and Callaghan (36) are your assist leaders, while Brooke (25) and Johnson (16) go 1-2 in blocked shots.
 
PacWest Listings: The Vulcans are third in the PacWest in three-pointers made per game (8.8) and are first in blocked shots per contest (4.3)…Ryley Callaghan is second in free throw percentage (.903), second in three-point percentage (.423) and sixth in treys made per game (2.7)…Trey Ingram is sixth in three-point percentage (.378), eighth in treys made (2.6) and ninth in assists (3.8)…Devin Johnson is fourth in blocked shots (1.3)…Denhym Brooke is second in blocked shots (2.1) and sixth in free throw percentage (.818).
 
Missing Pieces: Bad news came to head coach GE Coleman and Vulcan fans as the new semester begins. Coleman will lose the services of Denhym Brooke, Mike Golden and Cameron Howell because of grades for the rest of the season.
 
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 No. 22 Concordia. For sure, it is the first time in recent memory that UH Hilo would have two wins over Top 25 teams.
 
Stuff about the Sunbirds: Fresno Pacific is just 4-13 on the season, but just barely missed an upset of Point Loma on Monday. A shot at the buzzer just rimmed out (74-72), sending the Sunbirds to their fifth straight loss. Earlier this season, they won three of four games including a pair of conference victories over Biola and Holy Names. 6-7 transfer Sam Burt (Dakota Tech) is a double threat at 13 points and 7.3 rebounds a game. The Vulcans won the lone game played between the two schools last year in Hilo (97-92), and UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 4-3.
 
Notre Dame News: The Argonauts just returned from the islands, where they went 0-3, including the 73-65 loss to the Vulcans. NDNU is 2-11 overall and 1-6 in PacWest games, with the lone conference win coming at home against Fresno Pacific (79-73). They also have a non-conference win against Pacific Union. 6-2 guard Chazz Wade leads the Argos with 11.1 points a game with RJ Louis next at 10.9. The Vulcans defeated NDNU last year in Hilo (68-63) and UHH leads the all-time series, 20-10.
 
Hawk Hype: Holy Names is coming off a stunning 79-78 upset of defending conference champion Hawai`i Pacific last Friday, and they did it on the road. Holy Names led nearly the entire night, and at the end were paced by Jewels Sanders with 20 points. At 3-4 in conference play, the Hawks also have wins over Fresno Pacific and Dominican. Holy Names is balanced, with four players in double figures, led by Taylor Alonzo's 12.9 points a contest, a 6-3 transfer guard from El Camino College. Last year, the Vulcans and Hawks took turns winning on each other's court. UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 9-2.
 
Penguin Platter: After winning a pair of PacWest games back-to-back in early December, Dominican will be looking to halt a four-game losing streak on Saturday when they host Chaminade. The Penguins posted those wins over Notre Dame de Namur (67-66) and Fresno Pacific (73-66) but have since been on the short end versus Point Loma (88-45), California Baptist (84-60), Dixie State (71-52) and Academy of Art (81-74). High scoring 6-4 guard Jeremiah Gray ranks second in the PacWest in scoring at 20.2 ppg. The Vulcans won both games last year between the two schools, and the all-time series is tied at 8-8.
 
Their Shirts are Now Red: Coach Coleman announced in December 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.
 
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.
 
Around the Loop: Azusa Pacific (7-1) holds a one-game lead in the PacWest standings over Dixie State (6-2), with California Baptist one win back of the Trailblazers (5-2)…In the west region poll, Western Oregon is first (13-1), followed by Cal Poly Pomona (11-2), and California Baptist (12-2). Other PacWest teams in the top 10 are APU (5^th) and Chaminade (8^th)…CBU is ranked 23^rd nationally.
 
Looking ahead: After the four games in eight days in northern California, the Vulcans will return home for three games in a week's span, hosting Point Loma (Jan. 27), Fresno Pacific (Feb. 1) and Dominican (Feb. 3).
 
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.
 
For more information, contact sports information director Russ Blunck at blunckr@hawaii.edu.