HILO, Hawai'i-- The UH Hilo men's basketball team (4-4, 0-1 PacWest) opened conference play with a close loss to Concordia University Irvine (5-4, 2-1 PacWest), falling to the Eagles by a final score of 72-66.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones had his first double-double in the Vulcans first conference game of the season. Tait-Jones scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had four assists. Darren Williams also had four assists and led the Vulcans with two steals.

Wiliams was successful at the charity stripe going 6-6. Tait-Jones shot a good 80 percent from the free throw line, going four-for-five. 

Donald McHenry was the UHH lead scorer with 17 points. A steal by Jamie Strong gave McHenry his first scoring opportunity where he landed a layup with a little less than 13 minutes remaining in the half. McHenry's bucket left the Red and Black just one point behind CUI (14-13). 

The Eagles answered back with a 10-point run that was broken up by a Williams basket (21-12). 

A three by Max Kunnert sparked a rally that led to a Vulcan seven-point run, closing the gap 26-19. 

CUI's Wayne Arnold had the three that ended the first half and cemented the Eagles 37-30 lead heading into halftime. 

The Vulcans and Eagles went back and forth for points in the second. Payton Grant came off the bench and hit a three that lessened the Green and Gold's lead 48-40. 

With about nine minutes left in the game, Kameron Ng made a steal on the opposite side of the court. Ng quickly turned around and made his way back to the basket, landing a layup to bring UHH within six points. Tait-Jones was then fouled by CUI and awarded two free throws. Tait-Jones sunk in both bridging the gap 50-46.

CUI composed themselves and pulled away with their lead, taking a 11-point run. The Vulcans worked their way back to a just a four-point deficit with 38 seconds left on the clock. Williams then had two good free throws that left the Vulcans chasing two points. 

A timeout left the Vulcans with 4.5 seconds left on the clock. Two good free throws by Concordia's Kayle Knuckles put UHH five points behind the Eagles. 

The Vulcans put forth a valiant effort, but the time ran out leaving UHH a couple cents short in the 72-66 final score. 

The men's basketball team play's next Monday, Nov. 6 against Point Loma at 7:30pm HT. 
 

To view the basketball schedule, CLICK HERE.