HILO, Hawai'i– A pair of freshmen led the Vulcans to a 85-78 victory over Holy Names in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

Freshman Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was the Vulcans lead scorer with 22 points with fellow freshman Max Kunnert  just behind him with a career-high of 20 points. 

Donald McHenry and Kameron Ng also scored in the double digits with 14 and 12 points respectively.

The Hawks (4-9, 2-4 PacWest) and the Vulcans (7-4, 3-1 PacWest) played an uncomfortably close first half. Neither team was able to break away for long which led to many lead changes. UHH managed to slip away with a two-point lead heading into halftime. 

UH Hilo settled into the second half, holding their largest lead yet at 56-41. From there, HNU worked their way back into the mix taking the lead 70-69 with a little less than five minutes remaining off a free throw by the Hawks' Austin Carter. 

The Vulcans responded quickly, taking advantage of a shooting foul that led to Kunnert making three good free throws (72-70). UHH then found their groove, breaking away by as many as nine points before taking their eventual 85-78 win. 

Tait-Jones led the floor with 13 rebounds, earning his second double-double of the season. Tait-Jones also tallied two steals along with Darren Williams. 

Williams led the court with five assists. He was also 2-for-2 at the free throw line and 2-for-3 behind the arc. 

UHH did well in both of these categories shooting 82 percent at the charity stripe and were 7-for-19 in treys. 

The Vulcans will play next Monday, Jan. 10 at 2pm HST against Biola in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. 

CLICK HERE, to view the men's basketball schedule.