HILO, Hawai`i—Four different players scored in double figures for Western Oregon and the visiting Wolves answered every Hawai`i Hilo challenge with a counter run to gain an 80-69 non-conference victory on Friday afternoon at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The Wolves, ranked seventh in the NCAA Division II west region, improved to 7-1 on the season. The Vulcans fell to 3-4 overall in front of 341 fans during the matinee special.

Devin Johnson had a season-high 19 points and nine rebounds for the Vulcans, who cut the Wolves lead to four points early in the second half. That was after trailing by as many as 18 points in the first 20 minutes after a blitzing 14-0 Western Oregon run.

UH Hilo held a 4-2 lead in the opening moments before the Wolves rampage. During that blitz, WOU had two conventional three-point plays, and they would end up with four of those in the first half. After the 14 straight points, the Wolves led 28-10.

The Vulcans would answer though with an 11-0 run of their own, capped by a three-pointer by Cleo Cain to make it 28-21. Later in the half, the Vulcans would twice pull within five points on a trey by Kaleb Gilmore (34-29) and a basket by Jordan Graves (39-34).

Western Oregon would close the half with an 8-4 advantage, taking a 47-38 lead into the halftime locker room.

A three-pointer by Jalen Thompson and a jumper by Kupaa Harrison early in the second half cut the lead to 47-43 but the Wolves would answer again, this time pushing their lead out to 60-48 at the 15-minute mark. The Vulcans would get no closer than eight points the rest of the afternoon.

The Wolves forced the Vulcans into 18 turnovers, and they only had nine themselves. Western Oregon came into the game ranked fourth in NCAA statistics in turnover margin.

"We turned the ball over too much and they pounded us on the offensive glass," said UH Hilo head coach GE Coleman after the game. "Still, we played hard and had our chances against what easily could be the best team in the west region."

The Wolves had a +9 rebound edge in the first half, but the Vulcans evened that up a bit after the break (38-34 WOU). The visitors had eight steals in the game to UH Hilo's three.

Johnson just missed a double-double by one board, hitting six-of-nine shots from the field and seven-of-ten from the free throw line. Graves had 13 points on the night, 12 of them in the first half. Larry Bush added 12 points, while Harrison finished with five points, six rebounds and a team-best four assists.

Brandell Evans led the Wolves, who finished 31-2 last year and reached the regional title game, with 16 points. Riley Hawken added 15, Cameron Cranston had 12 and Kaleb Warner contributed 11.

The Vulcans, who played the game without leading scorer James Griffin, will return to Pacific West Conference play on Monday night, hosting Holy Names at 7:30 p.m.