HILO, Hawaii– The UH Hilo men's basketball team demonstrated their grit on senior night against inter-island foe Chaminade University. 

The Vulcans (14-12, 10-9 in the PacWest Conference) defeated the Silverswords (8-17, 6-13 PacWest) 72-70 in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. 

Jamie Strong, Anthony Haskett and Steven Hubbell were honored before the game for their careers at UH Hilo in a special senior ceremony. The trio were members of teams that accomplished major milestones for the men's basketball program, including being the 2021 Hawai'i Pod Champions and members of the first squad to ever qualify for the PacWest Championships.

The game was hard fought with 15 lead changes and seven occasions when the score was tied. 

The Vulcans did a good job of sharing the ball and every player who saw time on the court scored a basket. The UHH lead scorers for the night were Max Kunnert and Donald McHenry with 13 points each.

The Vulcan bench contributed  30 points with seniors Strong and Haskett leading the effort with seven points a piece. Haskett's seven points was a career-high. 

UH Hilo was efficient from downtown shooting 42.1 percent which is six percent above their team average. Leading the long ball game was Kunnert (3-for-4) and Payton Grant (2-for-2). 

The Vulcans play next in Fresno, California for the PacWest Championships that are set for Mar. 2-5. The Vulcans are currently the sixth seed in the tournament, but the final outcome will depend on the results of Saturday nights games. 

Vulcan Leaders….POINTS: Kunnert and McHenry 13, Darren Willams 8; ASSISTS: Kameron Ng, Williams, and Tait-Jones 3; REBOUNDS: Tait-Jones 12, Kunnert, Williams and Ng 4; STEALS: McHenry, Tait-Jones, and Strong 1; BLOCK: Grant 1.