HONOLULU, Hawai`i--The bad news came before the Vulcans even took the floor prior to their 65-61 men's basketball victory over Hawai`i Pacific on Saturday afternoon at the Shark Tank.

Word of Academy of Art's 67-60 win over Notre Dame de Namur filtered to the Vulcans before tip-off, which secured the sixth spot in the Pacific West Conference tournament for the Urban Knights and not the Vulcans. As disappointing as the news was, the day would be completely dark with a season finale loss to the Sharks.

The Vulcans were able to avoid that, finishing the season with a win and a series split with their island rivals. They put the final touches on a 12-14 season, which included a 10-12 mark in the PacWest. They tied with Academy of Art, but the Urban Knights won the tiebreaker by virture of their season sweep of UHH.

"It's disappointing for sure," said head coach GE Coleman. "I feel bad for our seniors, who have been so close now twice. But also, credit to them (seniors Kupaa Harrison and Kaleb Gilmore) for fighting through and ending their careers with a win."

Last year, the Vulcans also found out right before tipoff in their final game that the dominoes all fell the wrong way, and they would miss the postseason. 

Harrison scored 20 points in the final game of his career, and also had seven boards. It was perhaps appropriate that the Kailua native scored three times in the final two and a half minutes, including the game clincher with six seconds left.

Junior Elisha Duplechan also had 20 points, adding six rebounds and six assists. 

The Vulcans led for almost all of the first half until the Sharks rallied and tied the game on a Ronald Blain dunk with 5:20 to go. That would spur HPU to a 9-2 run and an eventual 35-30 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Vulcans got hot early, using a 12-0 run to take a lead that they wouldn't give up until later in the game. The teams would eventually knot up, trading baskets over the final stretch. 

In the final three minutes, HPU's Blaine, who would finish with 24 points, tied the game at 57-57. Harrison then put UHH up 59-57, and at just under two minutes, he would score again to make it 61-59. After both teams missed on their next possessions, HPU had a chance to take the lead but a long three-point miss was grabbed by Gilmore. The senior would go coast-to-coast for a huge basket, his only of the night, to make it a two-possession game at 63-59 with 47 seconds left. 

Blaine would add yet another bucket with 34 seconds left (63-61), but Harrison sealed the contest with six seconds left on a drive to the basket for the final 65-61 count. HPU would miss their final shot as time expired.

The Vulcans and Sharks split their two games in 2019-20, and HPU finishes the season at 10-18 overall and 8-14 in the PacWest 

Neither team shot well, with the Vulcans at 43 percent and HPU at 37%. UHH hit just 4-of-20 trey attempts, but had just nine turnovers in the game compared to 15 for the Sharks.