HILO, Hawai`i—A torrid first half run and then some late defensive stops were just enough for the Hawai`i Hilo men's basketball team to secure a 76-71 win over Simpson on Saturday night at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The Vulcans got the revenge victory and also improved to 2-1 on the season. It was just the second loss for the Red Hawks, who fell to 5-2. Simpson had won the first game of the series on Thursday night, 78-75.

James Griffin had 23 points and eight rebounds to lead the Vulcans. Jordan Graves added 11 points and four assists, and Damani Whitlock came off the bench to pot 10, missing just one shot on the night.

The Vulcans led for almost the entire game, especially after a 14-0 run in the first half, but the 611 Vulcan fans in attendance still had to sweat things out in the final minutes.

Halfway through the second half, UH Hilo held a 63-47 lead after a three-pointer from Jalen Thompson. That lead was still 12 points a few minutes later before Simpson freshman guard Tiyon Martin put on a show.

The 5-9 point hit a trey, a lay-in and another three-pointer to pull the Red Hawks to within three points (67-64) with four minutes left. Martin added a conventional three-point play with just under three minutes left to cut the deficit to two points (69-67).

The Vulcans hit enough free throws to still have a four-point lead with 35 seconds left, and then had the ball and a chance to salt the game away. But Simpson's JT Branch stole the ball at halfcourt and broke away for a dunk to make the count 73-71 with 11 seconds left.

The Red Hawks had to then quickly foul, and Whitlock calmly sank both free throws to make a two-possession game again (75-71). On the next Red Hawk possession, Simpson turned it over and Graves hit one more free throw to account for the final tally.

Martin finished with a career high 21 points, and he also had five rebounds and four assists. Blake Trent had 15 points, 13 of them in the first half. Branch finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

UH Hilo led 42-29 at halftime after a 14-0 run broke open a 24-24 game.  Griffin had 18 of his points before intermission and the Vulcan defense forced Simpson into 16 first half turnovers (they finished with 22).

The Vulcans will now get almost two weeks away from game time, next opening Pacific West Conference play on November 29 at Hawaii Pacific.