HILO, Hawai'i – After falling for just the second time in conference play a few days prior, the Hawai'i Hilo men's basketball team rebounded with a big win as it extended itself past Azusa Pacific, 68-59, Monday evening at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium to overtake the Cougars for second place in the Pacific West Conference.
The Vulcans built up as large of a lead as 16 points through the early part of the second half but the Cougars flipped the score with a 19-2 run to take a 45-44 advantage near the midway point of the period.
It was gut-check time for Hawai'i Hilo and it answered the call to hold APU to just four scores from the field the rest of the way as the Vulcans put up 24 points on the way to victory.
"The biggest thing we did was handle adversity," Vulcans head coach Kaniela Aiona said. "It was good to have a little bit of depth back. It's hard to lose at home and the wheels fell off in the second half last game. It was good to see how we responded."
With the win, Hawai'i Hilo now currently sits at No. 2 in the conference between Point Loma Nazarene at the top with APU, Academy of Art and Biola right behind.
By The Numbers
- Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones returned to action after missing the last two games and scored a game-high 25 points (11-17 FG) with 11 rebounds for a consecutive double-double and his fifth on the season. Tait-Jones opened the second half with an 8-0 run to help the Vulcans extend their early lead.
- Carlos Ramsey Jr. followed with 18 points (7-11 FG) and scored the go-ahead bucket inside the paint at the 10:50-mark.
- Offensively, the Vulcans took just 10 three-point shot attempts, their lowest on the season. They also went a season-low 45.0 percent at the free throw line (9 of 20).
- APU matched a season low of 35.1 shooting percentage (20-57 FG).
- Bryce Sloan had a team-high 15 points off the bench for the Cougars followed by Nate Kleppe's 13 points.
- Cameron Wall also returned to action for the Vulcans, logging five minutes off the bench after sitting out the last five contests.
What's Next
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 11-3 overall, 7-2 PacWest while Azusa Pacific moved to a 12-5 record (7-3 PacWest).
The Vulcans will be back in action Wednesday, Jan. 18 for the last hoops doubleheader of the season-opening home stand, taking on Biola (11-6 overall, 6-4 PacWest). The women will tip off at 5 p.m. followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m. in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The Cougars will travel to O'ahu to take on HPU and Chaminade through the end of this week.
Hawai'i Hilo and Azusa Pacific will match up again one month from now on Feb. 16 in Azusa, California.
Amongst the Best in the West
Hawai'i Hilo came in ranked at No. 7 in the latest Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) West Region Media Poll released earlier on Monday.
At the top was Point Loma Nazarene with Azusa Pacific in a three-way tie at No. 4 with Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's. Academy of Art was No. 8 followed by Biola at No. 9.
The D2SIDA regional poll is released every Monday, followed by the national poll every Tuesday.
Each region has six representatives (two per conference) who comprise the regional poll. The national poll has 16 voters — two from each region. The poll is in its ninth season of existence and is recognized by the NCAA.
