SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--UH HIlo went ice cold for a little over half a dozen minutes in the second half, giving host Dominican what they needed to pull away for a 71-55 men's basketball win on Saturday night at the Conlan Center.

The Penguins avenged a loss to the Vulcans in Hilo (68-64) and improved to 5-12 in the Pacific West Conference and to 5-18 overall. The Vulcans dropped to two games under .500 at 7-9 in conference action and 9-11 on the year. The Vulcans dropped back into seventh place, a half-game behind Hawai`i Pacific.

Elisha Duplechan led UH HIlo with 15 points. Sasa Vuksanovic had 13 points and nine rebounds, Kupaa Harrison added 10 points and eight boards and Jalen Thompson had 11. But the Vulcans shot just 42 percent from the field, were 7-of-13 from the free throw line and converted only 4-of-14 trey attempts. 

More crippling, was the visitor's scoreless stretch in the second half of six and a half minutes.

The Vulcans led by as many as seven points on two different occasions in the first half, and then landed even with the Penguins at the break, 29-29. In the second half, the teams traded baskets for the first nine minutes, with the Vulcans edging ahead at 46-45 on a Thompson basket with 10:55 left. 

But UH Hilo went ice cold from there. Dominican went on a 17-0 run until the Vulcans finally broke the drought with 4:27 remaining, essentially icing the game. Dominican hit free throws down the final stretch, converting 12-of-15 overall. Jaelyn Ragsdale led four DUC players in double figures with 16 points. 

The Vulcans will have a short time to get over the loss, traveling to Oakland for a Monday night game with Holy Names.