SAN RAFAEL, California – Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones poured in a career-high 37 points to pace the Hawai'i Hilo men's basketball team past Dominican, 79-70, Friday evening in Pacific West Conference play at the Conlan Center.
Tait-Jones went to work just 40 seconds into the game to score the Vulcans' opening basket and never let up until sinking his last free throw for the final points with 19 ticks remaining in the game.
Hawai'i Hilo led the entire length of the contest and its lead only reached double digits for a total 76 seconds of game time as Dominican continually battled back to stay within striking distance.
The Penguins were able to whittle the Vulcans' lead down to just five points near the midway point of the second half, but a Nadjrick Peat block followed by the transition bucket by Kalique Mitchell on an assist from Tait-Jones helped Hawai'i HIlo to extend itself to slowly milk away the final 10 minutes for the victory.
With seven games remaining in the conference season, the Vulcans are at No. 2 in the standings behind unbeaten Point Loma Nazarene. The top six teams will qualify for the PacWest Championships in early March on O'ahu.
Dominican currently sits at the No. 6 spot.
Hawai'i Hilo and Dominican previously played in Hilo on Jan. 9 with the Vulcans winning, 81-67.
By The Numbers
- Tait-Jones' 37 points ranks tied for eighth in single-game program history along with 15 field goals tied at No. 3. The sophomore shot 15 of 23 and 6 of 7 at the free throw line with 14 rebounds for his 17th career double-double and seventh of the season. The third-year player also sits with 945 career points.
- Peat recorded his sixth four-block game of the season for 48 total blocks, now ranking No. 5 for most in single-season program history.
- Mitchell poured in 16 points off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting with four rebounds, one block and two steals.
- Dominican committed just seven turnovers to match a season low. It was also the fewest by a Hawai'i Hilo opponent this season.
- Five different players tallied double-digit scoring figures for the Penguins led by Justin Brown's 16 points (7-10 FG) and 12 rebounds to go along with four blocks.
What's Next
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 14-4 overall, 10-3 PacWest while Dominican fell to a 10-11 record (6-8 PacWest).
The Vulcans wrap up their northern California road slate against Academy of Art on Sunday, Jan. 29 at the Walter Gleason Gym on the former campus of Notre Dame de Namur University. 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 3:30 p.m. PT (1:30 p.m. HT).
The two teams previously met Jan. 16 in Hilo with the Urban Knights winning, 90-68.
Hawai'i Hilo will return for two final home games on Feb. 8 and Feb. 11.
The Penguins will host HPU on Jan. 29.
Amongst the Best in the West
Hawai'i Hilo came in ranked at a tie for No. 6 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 tied with the Vulcans at the sixth spot. Academy of Art followed at No. 8 and Biola at No. 10.
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.
