HILO, Hawai'i – After trailing for most of the game, the Hawai'i Hilo men's basketball team's made a thunderous late-game charge but Biola staved off the Vulcans to prevail, 61-54, Wednesday night in Pacific West Conference play at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
With the score knotted up late at 52-52, Biola's Daniel Esparza was able to hit on a 3-pointer for the go-ahead basket.
Both teams went scoreless over the next minute and 20 seconds as the Vulcans came up empty on two shot-attempts while committing two turnovers. Still, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones sank two free throws to make it a three-point game with time ticking down.
The Vulcans fouled twice and the Eagles missed on the backend of both pairs of free-throw attempts but managed to retain possession with an offensive rebound and a Hawai'i-Hilo turnover as Biola proceeded to sink two additional free throws to seal up the win.
Despite the loss, Hawai'i Hilo remained at the No. 2 spot in the conference standings after Azusa Pacific (7-4 PacWest) took a loss Wednesday night to fall into a two-way tie with Biola at No. 3.
By The Numbers
- Darren Williams put in 21 points, scoring 13 of them in the second half to help keep the Vulcans in the game.
- Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones grabbed a team-season-high 14 rebounds and added 10 points for a third-consecutive double-double while shooting 6 of 6 at the free throw line.
- Nadjrick Peat corralled 10 boards as Carlos Ramsey Jr. finished with 12 points.
- Hawai'i Hilo committed 19 turnovers while Biola had just nine.
- Alex Wright and Esparza led Biola with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
- The Eagles took 10 more shot attempts (24-60 FG) than the Vulcans (16-50 FG).
- Points were tough to come by in the first half at one point as both teams combined for 16-consecutive misses from the field over the course of nearly six minutes of play through the midway point.
What's Next
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 11-4 overall, 7-3 PacWest while Biola moved to a 12-6 record (7-4 PacWest).
The Vulcans will hit the road for their first out-of-state trip, playing in northern California over the next three weeks matching up first with Holy Names this Sunday in Oakland. The women will tip off at 1 p.m. local Pacific Time (11 a.m. Hawai'i Time) followed by the men's game at 3 p.m. PT (1 p.m. HT).
Hawai'i Hilo will return for two final home games on Feb. 8 and Feb. 11.
The Eagles will return to California to take on Azusa Pacific.
Hawai'i Hilo and Biola will match up again Feb. 21 in La Mirada, California for the penultimate game of the regular season.
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.
