HILO, Hawai`i—Hawaii Hilo senior
Kupaa Harrison drained a step-back three-pointer with one second left in overtime to help the Vulcans snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on Monday night at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, 79-76.
Harrison, who wears No. 24 because of his favorite player Kobe Bryant, drained the winning shot in much the same way his idol might have—one day after Bryant's untimely death.
Harrison finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists after a slow start. With 15 seconds left in overtime, he brought the ball up the court, dribbled time off the clock, took one step in and then stepped back in front of the Vulcan bench to bury the game winner.
"There really wasn't a doubt as to who would take the final shot," head coach
GE Coleman said after the game. "We had a back-up plan with Kaleb (Gilmore) breaking through the lane, but they cut that off and it was all Koop after that."
Harrison's shot capped a very improbable victory for the Vulcans, who trailed for all but a few minutes of the game.
The Vulcans took an early 5-0 lead and still had upper hand on the scoreboard at the halfway point of the first 20 minutes after a Gilmore three-pointer (18-14). But the Hawks answered with a 9-0 run (23-18). They would control the rest of the half, all the way into intermission after an Anthony Dennis basket made it 31-22 at the break.
The Vulcans had eight turnovers in the first half, shot just 37 percent from the field and were just 2-of-8 from behind the arch.
"Probably our worst half of the season," Coleman said.
It would get worse before it got better in the second half. Holy Names' Zamaria Odom scored the first seven points of the second half, giving the Hawks a 15-point lead just two minutes after the break. The Vulcans would answer with their own 8-0 run, but HNU kept the lead at double digits for the first ten minutes of the second half.
A lot of that had to do with Odom, who finished with 19 second half points and 23 for the game.
But the Vulcans began to chip away and get a few stops on the defensive end. Three-pointers by Gilmore and
Damani Whitlock, as did free throws and a three-point play by
Elisha Duplechan. With 7:53 to go, the margin had been cut to two points (54-52).
Still, the Vulcans couldn't get the lead. The cut the Hawks margin to one point a couple of times, but HNU pulled away by six (65-59) with 3:47 to go. With 1:04 left, Whitlock hit two free throws to make it 67-64 in favor of the Hawks. At the other end of the court, UHH forced a turnover.
With 18 seconds remaining, Gilmore buried a deep three to tie the game at 67-67, and Holy Names couldn't convert on their final opportunity in regulation to send it to overtime.
That felt like a death row inmate getting a reprieve.
In overtime, the teams traded baskets through the first three minutes. Baskets by
Jalen Thompson and Harrison put the Vulcans up 76-73 with a minute to go, but HNU's Cameron Fini was fouled behind the arch and he hit all three free throw attempts with 15 seconds left, tying the game at 76-76 and setting up Harrison's dramatic ending.
Harrison, who spent one year at Orange Coast College (home of one of the crash victims, baseball coach John Altobelli), had only four points in the first half but had 12 in the second half and overtime.
He had scoring help for sure. Six players were in double figures for UHH, including Duplechan, who also had 16. Gilmore had 15, marking the eighth straight game he has scored in double figures off the bench.
Sasa Vuksanovic and Whitlock had 11 and Thompson added 10.
Odom had 23 for the Hawks, and Fini had a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds. Rob Fuller had 11 points and six assists for visitors, who are now 3-9 in Pacific West Conference play.
The Vulcans moved to 9-8 overall and to 7-6 in the PacWest. With Hawaii Pacific's loss to Concordia tonight, UH Hilo moved back into sixth place in the conference.
The Vulcans will continue this four-game homestand with a Friday (Jan. 31) contest versus Academy of Art. Start time is 7:30 p.m.
