OAKLAND, Calif.—Torrid second half shooting by host Holy Names guaranteed that history didn't repeat itself in reverse on Thursday night at Tobin Gymnasium.

Holy Names, who overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat Hawai`i Hilo on the Big Island in December (85-77), pulled away from the Vulcans in the second half tonight—not allowing UH Hilo to return the December favor. The Hawks drained shot after shot after the break (65 percent) to sky past the Vulcans, 85-61.

It was the fourth win in the last five tries for the Hawks, who improved to 7-7 in the Pacific West Conference and to 8-11 overall. The Vulcans dropped their third straight and are now 7-8 on the year and 5-6 in the PacWest.

The win also allowed the Hawks to move past UH Hilo into the coveted sixth-place spot in the conference standings. The top six teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the Pacific West Conference Tournament.

James Griffin, who did not play when these teams met previously, led UH Hilo with 18 points, 16 of them in the first half.

Holy Names never trailed in this contest, jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes. The Vulcans would tie the game three times in the first half at 12-12, 15-15 and 19-19, but a three-pointer by Alonzo Taylor with eight minutes left gave HNU the lead back at 22-19 and they would never trail again.

Griffin scored the last six UHH points of the first half to keep it close at 35-31 at the break. He missed only two field goals in the first half, and was 6-for-6 at the free throw line.

In the second half a Kupaa Harrison basket cut the lead to 35-33, but Holy Names began to pull away from there. They hit 14 of their first 20 shots after intermission, and eight minutes into the half had built a 60-43 lead. They did a lot of their damage from three-point range, hitting five of their first six trey attempts.

Holy Names would continue to pull away, building a 26-point lead with just eight minutes to go. They would shoot 65 percent in the second half and hit 9-of-18 three-point shots in the game. Taylor led the Hawks and all scorers with 22 points and Jewels Sanders added 17. The Hawks held a 34-22 rebound edge in the game.

Larry Bush joined Griffin in double figures with 14 points, and Harrison had 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. But the Vulcans shot only 34 percent in the second half and converted just 2-of-16 three-point shots in the game. They had just six steals in 40 minutes and forced HNU into only 13 turnovers.

UH Hilo will play one more time on this northern California trip, traveling to Belmot to take on Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday afternoon.