BELMONT, Calif.—Stop me if you have heard this one before.
Kupaa Harrison scored the winning basket for visiting Hawaii Hilo with 14 seconds left to on the clock to stun host Notre Dame de Namur, 64-63 on Thursday night at the Walter Gleason Gymnasium.
Harrison, who did the same on Monday night at Holy Names with four seconds remaining, scored two baskets in the final 45 seconds to help propel the Vulcans to the win. But he had plenty of help tonight, especially from his bench on an evening when the Vulcans rained in 14 of 28 three-point attempts.
The win moved the Vulcans back to the .500 mark at 11-11 overall and to 9-9 in the Pacific West Conference. UHH's victory, coupled with Biola's loss to Chaminade, moved the Vulcans into a tie for fifth place in the conference standings.
The Argonauts are now 3-21 on the year and 2-16 in the PacWest.
Earlier, when the Vulcans trailed 23-7, victory wasn't on UHH's mind--just scoring a basket was. UHH scored only seven points in the first 13 minutes of the game before a
Elisha Duplechan three-pointer woke the Vulcans up. They would go on a 19-1 run from there, using three's from
Isaiah Duplechan,
Steven Hubbell and back-to-back treys by
Jalen Thompson to take a 26-24 lead.
It was 26-26 at the half.
In the second half, there were 12 lead changes (14 in the game) as Thompson,
Isaiah Duplechan and Hubbell drained long range shots. All three finished with season highs—Thompson had 15 (5 of 10 three's), I. Duplechan added 12 (4 of 8 treys) and Hubbell had nine ( 3 for 3).
Isaiah Duplechan hit another trey to tie the game at 60-60 with 1:41 remaining, and Harrison would work his way inside for a basket with 46 seconds left to make it 62-61. NDNU's Ajay Singh countered inside with 26 seconds on the clock (63-62), setting up Harrison's final winner.
Like Monday night, the 6-foot-5 senior got a screen at the top of the key. This time he worked his way into the paint and to the rim for the go-ahead basket with 14 second left (he pulled up and hit a 10-footer on Monday).. NDNU then missed at the other end, got the rebound, but turned the ball over to end the game.
The Vulcans hit 14 three's on the night, but were 0-for-4 at the free throw line. The Argonauts hit 9 of 24 treys and 8 of 13 free throws.
Harrison finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Elisha Duplechan had seven points, eight rebounds and six assists in a complete game effort.
The Vulcans will try and wrap up this four-game road trip on a positive note with a Saturday afternoon game against Academy of Art. The game will be played at Dominican University, with the start time set for 3 pm.
