(photo of Ethan Jetter dunking courtesy of Joe Poellot/Story by Russ Blunck)

HILO, Hawai`i--Freshman Donald McHenry scored 26 points but his Hawai`i Hilo team needed a big defensive stop at the end of the game before they could secure a 75-72 win over Alaska Anchorage.

With the victory, the Vulcans improved to 4-0 on the young season. The last UH Hilo team to begin a season 4-0 was the 2004-05 squad, a Jeff Law coached team. That group opened the year with victories over Carleton, Seattle Pacific, Hillsdale and Shippensburg, and then lost to Chaminade (4-1). They would go on to finish 25-4 and reach the NCAA West Region semifinals.

It was UH HIlo's six game in the last seven days.  Alaska Anchorage, a team picked to finish second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, is now 1-2.

McHenry, a 6-1 left-hander from Milwaukee, had 16 of his 26 points in the second half. He hit 11-of-18 shots from the field and was 2-of-4 from three-point range. He had double figures support from Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (11), and Darren Williams and Max Kunnert who had 10 each. Tait-Jones played with foul trouble and fouled out after playing only 20 minutes. Williams added seven assists and Kunnert had two steals.

Hunter Sweet led the Seawolves with a career-high 30 points, hitting 4-of-7 shots from three-point range. 

Despite those offensive numbers, it came down to a critical stop by the Vulcans on defense. 

With the score at 75-72, UAA had the ball with 18 seconds left. They called a timeout, and coming out of the break tried a number of screens and cuts to free up a three-point shooter. But the Vulcans were like glue, not allowing a good look until Caleb Larson had to fire up a desperation, double-clutch trey that fell short at the buzzer.

"That was a great last stop," Kaniela Aiona said after the game. "The guys did a good job of fighting through picks and communicating. We told them in the timeout to chase them like their life depended on it, and they did."

The Vulcans led 42-35 at the half, despite 19 points from Sweet. The Seawolves shot just 2-of-12 from three-point land in the first 20 minutes while the Vulcans knocked down 54 percent of its shots from the field. 

But the Seawolves warmed up in the second half. On a warm muggy night, UAA caught fire and pulled to within three points (42-39) moments into the second half, while also tagging Tait-Jones with his fourth foul. 

UHH then answered offensively with the tandem of Williams and McHenry. Williams hit a trey and McHenry had three scores to push the lead back to eight before Anchorage roared back again. Former Hawaii Pacific player David Rowland tied the game with six minutes left (63-63), but that spurred an 9-0 Vulcan run and a 74-63 Vulcan lead.

The Seawolves would make another rush with three straight treys from Tobin Karlberg, Larsen and Sweet to make it 75-72, setting up the final theatrics.

"We knew that Alaska Anchorage would be very strong and very well coached," Aiona added. "Now our players know."

That's important, because the squads will see each again next week in Anchorage (Nov. 28). They will play Alaska Fairbanks on the 27th, and before that Lubbock Christian on Nov. 23 in Honolulu.

The Vulcans shot 51 percent from the field and were 10-of-13 from the free throw line. UAA hit seven treys in the second half, but converted just 9 of 18 free throw attempts.