(photo by Rick Ogata)
BOX SCORE

HILO, Hawai`i--The Hawai`i HIlo coaching debut of Kaniela Aiona goes into the books as a victory, as the Vulcans topped Hawai`i Pacific on Saturday afternoon at Vulcan Gymnasium, 79-71.

For Aiona, the only thing that could have been sweeter would have been to have fans in the stands, and many of them would have been relatives to the Big Island native.

"Oh yeah, we would have had a packed crowd here for sure," Aiona smiled after the game. "Our Hilo fans are faithful and it would have been fantastic to have them here. There is a lot of history to this program that Coach Jimmy Yagi started, and it would have been really sweet to have Coach here as well."

In Aiona's Pacific West Conference opening victory, the Vulcans trailed just once in the contest, led by as many as 18 points but in the end had to hold off a furious Shark comeback to settle for the eight-point win. 

Darren Williams, who hit two clutch free throws with 19 seconds left, led UHH with 23 points. Freshman Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones added 21 points and nine rebounds, and 6-10 center Sasa Vuksanovic had a double-double with 19 points and 12 boards. Rookie Ethan Jetter was perfect from the field on his way to 11 points.

David Rowlands led HPU with 20 and six assists.

Rowlands also gave the Sharks their one lead in the game at 7-6 early in the contest. But Tait-Jones answered with a three-pointer and two driving, spinning moves to the basket for seven points in just over a minute  His team would never trail again. UHH led by as many as 12 counters in the first half and took a 43-34 lead at the break. Tait-Jones, all 6-foot-6 of him, has 15 points at halftime, while Vuksanovic and Williams had 11 each. 

The Vulcans would push their lead to as many as 18 in the second half (72-54) after a pair of Jetter free throws. But the Sharks would soon climb back with fury, using a pair of treys from Rowlands and Jacob Foy to slice the margin to five (76-71) with 31 seconds remaining. Jordan Graves added a free throw a few moments later and Williams sealed it with his final charity tosses.

Now, Aiona and the Vulcans will have to turn around and do it again, less than 24 hours from now. The Sharks and Vulcans play on Sunday at 3 pm.

"The challenges have been many during the pandemic, but one of the things I am most proud is how the guys have brought the passion to every practice," Aiona said. "I was pinching myself that we were actually finally playing."

Next is the challenge of playing a tough team back-to-back.

"We will watch film, and we know that we have to make some adjustments," he explained. "Playing a team six teams is going to be like a chess match every night."

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