AZUSA, Calif.—No. 18 ranked Azusa Pacific used a solid second half defense and torrid shooting to win their eighth straight game at the expense of Hawai`i Hilo on Thursday night at the Felix Event Center, 78-59.

In picking up the win in front of 1,012 fans, the Cougars improved to 13-3 on the season and to 8-2 in the Pacific West Conference. They also gained a measure of revenge on one of the only three teams to beat them this season—the Vulcans won back on Dec. 2 in Hilo, 82-79.

UH Hilo fell back to .500 with the loss, at 7-7 overall and to 5-5 in conference play. The Vulcans had won four of five games to start the New Year before tonight's loss.

UHH's Kupaa Harrison had 26 points to lead all scorers, including 20 in the first half. He hit 4-of-5 three-point attempts and led the Vulcans with six rebounds. Kaleb Gilmore came off the bench to add 11 points, his fourth straight game in double figures.

6-foot-10 Selom Mawugbe had 18 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the Cougars. Unofficially, he had six dunks. Point guard Brennan Rymer added 13 points and nine assists.

The Cougars came out of the gates nailing three's, hitting four in the first five and half minutes to take a 14-2 lead. They threatened to make the game a blowout early, before Harrison went on a run.

The 6-foot-5 senior nailed treys on three consecutive possessions, with Gilmore mixing in a long bomb in as well. Harrison then hit a standard two-point shot to cap a 14-0 UHH run, giving the Vulcans a 22-21 lead.

The teams traded baskets the rest of the half, before APU closed on a 7-2 run to take a 39-32 margin into intermission.

Elisha Duplechan scored for the Vulcans to open the second half (39-34), and Gilmore added two baskets to keep the game close (45-38). But a 13-6 APU run, capped by another Mawugbe dunk, put the Cougar lead into double digits (58-44), and that where they would stay the rest of the night.

APU, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA West Region, hit 10 of 27 three-pointers and outrebounded the Vulcans, 40-26. They had 22 assists on the night to UHH's four.

"We held them to six three-pointers in Hilo, but didn't defend well tonight," head coach GE Coleman said after the game. "They (APU) are playing really well right now, and we couldn't afford any type of letdown to stay with them tonight. We had too many."

The reigning PacWest Player of the Week Sasa Vuksanovic was held by Mawugbe and company to just three points and four rebounds.

The Vulcans will wrap up this short two-game road trip on Saturday at Fresno Pacific. Start time is 2:30 Hawaii time. The game will be broadcast on AM 670 KUPA.