(photo by Rick Ogata)

BOX SCORE

HILO, Hawai`i--A 15-4 run at the end of the first half broke open a tight game and paved the way for a 72-67 UH Hilo win over Chaminade on Saturday afternoon in a hard-fought men's basketball battle at Vulcan Gymnasium.

It was the fourth straight win for first-year coach Kaniela Aiona as his squad improved to 6-1 on the season. Chaminade dropped its third straight game to fall to 3-4. The two squads will square off again on Sunday at UHH with a 3 pm tip.

"I am happy for our guys, I am happy for the community of Hilo," Aiona said after the game when asked about the 6-1 mark. "I don't really want to talk about records until the end of the season. Right now, we just work hard each day, each game, each possession."

The Vulcans balanced attacked was led by point guard Darren Williams, who finished with 19 points and was 3-of-8 from three-point range. Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones added 15 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while Sasa Vuksanovic contributed another double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. He also led the Vulcans in assists with four.

It was the 6-foot-10 Vuksanovic's sixth double-double of the season.

"It's a five-man game and more, we got contributions from those guys and our guys coming in off the bench," Aiona said.

Malik Parsons led Chaminade with 16 points and Kevin Kremer added 15 and 12 rebounds. 

The game was a back-and-forth tussle from the start. No team led by more than four points until late in the half when the Vulcans caught fire. Tait-Jones, Williams and Vuksanovic scored all but three points of a 15-4 run to close the half, giving UHH a 36-29 halftime lead. 

They would never trail again, although it certainly got dicey down the stretch.

UH Hilo upped its lead to 11 points twice in the second half, but Chaminade began to chip away at the margin. A three-pointer by Isaac Amaral-Artharee cut the margin to five (64-59), and two baskets by Parsons sliced it to three--including a vicious dunk to make the count 68-65. 

But Vuksanovic countered with a tough bucket in the paint, and Williams hit two free throws down the stretch to keep the game at two possessions and the final tally of 72-67.

Now, in this new pandemic world, the Vulcans will turn around and face the relentless pressure of the Silverwords again in less than 24 hours.

"I kind of like this format, it's fun," Aiona said. "You can't really celebrate too much if you win or agonize if you lose. You take enough time to learn and move on to the next one."

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