This Week in Vulcan Men's Basketball
Record: 3-1 (3-1 PWC)

Vulcans Take on Sharks on Oahu
Saturday, Feb. 6 @ Hawai`i Pacific (0-2), 3 pm, The Shark Tank (St. Francis)
Sunday, Feb. 7 @ Hawai`i Pacific, 3 pm, The Shark Tank (St. Francis)

Here We Go Again, Parts 3 & 4: After opening the season three weeks ago with a pair of tight games at home against Hawai`i Pacific, the Vulcans and Sharks will tie up again, this time on Oahu. The Saturday and Sunday twinbill (3 pm both days) will be held at the old St. Francis School gym, now the Shark Tank. The Vulcans won 79-71 and 82-79 games in Hilo, but had to weather Shark comebacks in both games.

Vulcans on Video: No fans are allowed inside the Shark Tank, but you can watch the live stream video. Go to https://hiloathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule for the link.

Vulcans Split with Silverswords: Chaminade handed the Vulcans their first loss of the season last Saturday with a 97-76 pasting. But the Vulcans bounced back with a stunning 69-68 upset win over the Silverswords less than 24 hours later, clamping down on defense. The Vulcans led for almost the entire game, but still needed clutch free throws down the stretch from Darren Williams and a key blocked shot from Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones to preserve their first win at McCabe Gymnasium since 2009. Tait-Jones had 19 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots, Sasa Vuksanovic added 18 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks and Williams nailed five-of-six free throws for 10 points in the big win. 

Vulcans Hold Down Sixth Spot: The Vulcans remained in the sixth slot for the third straight week in the basketball writers D2SIDA west region poll. Chaminade stayed at No. 4. Unbeaten Point Loma is No. 1 at 3-0, No. 2 is Northwest Nazarene (8-1), followed by Azusa Pacific (3-1), Chaminade (1-1), Seattle Pacific (4-2) and UH Hilo (3-1). Nationally, Point Loma is ninth and Northwest Nazarene is No. 17.

Words from the Weekend: In addition to the big numbers posted above, the Vulcans also leaned on Steven Hubbell in Sunday's win. Hubbell had eight points and nailed a huge three-pointer with 1:19 left in the game...In Saturday's loss, Sasa Vuksanovic had 14 point and 10 rebounds, Darren Williams had 14 points and freshman Ethan Jetter added 13 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.

Vulcans a Mix of Veterans and Newcomers: All the players are new to Coach Aiona, but six players are familiar with wearing the Vulcan uniform. UH Hilo returns senior veterans Jordan Graves and Sasa Vuksanovic, both of whom have significant starting experience. Graves played in just eight games last year before an injury halted his season, but he was averaging 13.3 points a game. As a junior, he ranked second in the PacWest in steals. Vuksanovic, a 6-10 versatile post, led UHH in assists last year and also added 13.6 points and 6.2 boards a game. Other returnees include sharpshooting Jalen Thompson, Tom Power (6-8), Greg Walter (6-6), guards Steven Hubbell and Anthony Haskett, along with redshirt Payton Grant. Newcomers include 5-8 guard Darren Williams, who was the MVP of the Inland Empire Athletic Conference last year, averaging 17 points and six assists a game for Chaffey College. 6-8 Jabari Sweet averaged 13 points and seven boards at Chabot College, while 6-6 freshman Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones showed early promised with 18 points against the University of Hawaii. 6-5 fellow freshman Ethan Jetter will help, as will two-time BIIF Player of the Year Kia`i Apele (Waiakea HS).
 
Coach Aiona on Win Over Silverswords: "I was proud of our men's toughness level both mentally and physically. We all knew that we didn't perform to our capability on Saturday and on Sunday we wanted to be more in control. Our game plan was to control the tempo, work together and be more physical. Statistically we had some big nights from a few of our guys, it was great to see several players step up. One of the big factors was our bench play, they provided the glue and energy plays that we needed to complete the task."
 
Pandemic Puzzle: The Vulcans (UH Hilo), Sharks (Hawaii Pacific) and Silverswords (Chaminade) will see a lot of each other this winter. The Pacific West Conference is playing pod-only schedules during the regular season, meaning that the Hawai`i teams will square off a total of 12 times each against each other---same for the schools in the northern California and the southern California portion of the conference. Teams will also play each other on back-to-back days in the same gym, to cut down on travel and exposure. Postseason play is still a possibility, COVID-19 permitting. But no teams in the CCAA are playing basketball this winter, and only three in the GNAC are competing (Seattle Pacific, Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene). The GNAC schools are also playing a number of non-conference games against local NAIA and Division III teams.

Coach Aiona on Preparing for the Sharks, Again: "We took Monday off and had Tuesday to reveiw game film of the Chaminade games. Then we turned the page to get ready for a solid HPU team. We have been working hard to get ready for rounds three and four against them."

Shark Sentences: Hawaii Pacific has not played since Jan. 16-17 in Hilo. They had games two weeks ago scheduled against Chaminade, but both of those contests were postponed. Hawai`i Pacific finished 10-18 last season and return senior guards David Rowlands (9.2 ppg) and Tavon Tarpley (7 ppg, 4 rpg) along with junior Jacob Fry (7 ppg, 4.6 rpg). Rowland was tough to handle for the Vulcans in the opener, putting up 20 points with six assists. In the second game on the 17th, it was Rodney Hounshell, a 6-3 transfer from Lane CC, that was a handful with 23 points. 6-11 senior Chidozie Ndu also plays a big factor.

Series Snapshot: The Vulcans and Sharks split games last year, and after UHH's opening two wins this season HPU still leads the all-time series, 61-56.
 
Coach Aiona on HPU: "These will be two hard faught games again. "HPU has a talented group that competes hard. Coach Vorderbruegge does a nice job with his team. They have length, depth and dynamic players at each position." 
 
Around the Loop: Point Loma and Biola had to postpone games last week, but two other teams got sweeps in PacWest play. Azusa Pacific topped Concordia twice, and Fresno Pacific did the same to Academy of Art. This week, FPU and ART will play again, while Biola and Concordia will square off. Point Loma and Azusa Pacific have been postponed.

Last Year: The Vulcans finished 12-14 overall and 10-12 in the Pacific West Conference, good for a tie for sixth place—but for the second year in a row just missed out on a PacWest tournament berth. It was the final season for head coach GE Coleman, whose team upset Azusa Pacific and Concordia early in the season but also dropped three of its final four games.

New Era: It's a new era for Vulcan basketball and Big Island native Kaniela Aiona. The former Menlo leader is just the sixth head coach in the history of the UH Hilo program. Aiona led Menlo to a 19-11 record last winter and a berth in the NAIA national tournament before COVID-19 ended their season. The Honoka`a native turned the Oaks program around, taking a team that was 3-23 upon his arrival and improving to 20-11 in just three seasons. In five seasons and four games, Aiona is now 75-72 as a head coach. Aiona brings lead assistant Jamison Montgomery with him and also hired Humboldt State Hall of Fame coach Steve Kinder. Prior to Menlo, Aiona was an assistant coach at St. Leo (Fla.), Benedictine (Ill.), Lake Forest (Ill.), Central Methodist (Mo.) and Webster (Mo.). He played collegiately at Webster. He grew up in Honoka`a and used to go to the Vulcan Basketball camp as a child.