HILO, Hawai'i– The UH Hilo men's basketball team was unable to slow down the Pacific West Conference's top team, falling to Azusa Pacific on Thursday night in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, 89-51.

The Vulcans (10-9, 6-6 PacWest) couldn't find the range in the first half and dug too big a hole to climb out of against the red-hot Cougars (11-6, 8-2 PacWest). Nothing would drop for UH HIlo in the first 20 minutes as they went 0-for-10 from three-point range and ended up shooting 19 percent from the field before the halftime break. Meanwhile, it seemed like the Cougars couldn't miss, draining seven first half treys and at one point went on a 20-0 run.

APU would take a 43-18 lead into the halftime locker room. UH Hilo would play better in the second half, but the Cougars never cooled off, scoring 46 second half points.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones led the UHH offense with 20 points. But the Vulcans had a rough shooting night overall, converting just 31 percent of their shots from the floor. They were a icy 8-of-19 from the free throw line and 5-of-28 from three-point range. 

APU also controlled the boards out-rebounding UHH 54-28. Every Cougar collected at least three rebounds in their overall solid team performance and they had four players in double-figure scoring, led by Allan McBride's 17 points. 

Vulcan Leaders…POINTS: Tait-Jones 20, Donald McHenry 9, Max Kunnert 8; ASSISTS: Kunnert 3; REBOUNDS: Jamie Strong 7, McHenry 5, Tait-Jones 4; STEALS: Tait-Jones 3, McHenry 2.

Up Next..UH Hilo plays next on the road against Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 6:30pm HST and at Chaminade on Wednesday.