AZUSA, California – In the final stretch on the road to the Pacific West Conference men's basketball postseason tournament, things got shaken up as Hawai'i Hilo fell to Azusa Pacific, 77-64, Thursday evening at the Felix Event Center.
With the win, the Cougars now hold the edge toward finishing second in the conference standings to claim a first round bye in the six-team PacWest Championships set for March 2-4 in Honolulu.
After a close first half that saw the Vulcans take a two-point lead into the intermission, the Cougars opened up the scoring by splashing six of their nine early second-half baskets from beyond the arc.
At the midway point of the second period, Hawai'i Hilo was shooting a respectable 46.2 percent from the field but was 0 for 2 on 3-pointers and had committed three of its 12 total turnovers.
APU cooled off with zero 3-pointers made the rest of the way, but it managed to get to the free throw line 20 times, hitting on 14 of them to help seal the victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Carlos Ramsey Jr. led Hawai'i Hilo with 15 points as Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones followed with 13 points along with nine rebounds and six assists.
- Kalique Mitchell scored 14 points off the bench for his 13th double-digit scoring game of the season.
- Darren Williams totaled four steals to surpass Vincent Ray (1987-88) to become sixth all-time in program history with 98. The senior also moved up to No. 6 in all-time assists, passing Bill O'Rear (1997-98)'s mark of 247.
- APU collected a season-high 48 rebounds and it was reflected in the score with a 16-6 second-chance points margin over the Vulcans. The Cougars also capitalized with a 17-5 edge on points off turnovers.
- Bryce Sloan and Hayden Gray each totaled 19 points for the Cougars as Justin Hemsley and Ken West followed with 12 apiece.
WHAT'S NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 16-6 overall, 12-5 PacWest while Azusa Pacific improved 14-4 PacWest, 19-6 overall.
The Vulcans will continue on the road with their regular season-ending slate against Concordia University Irvine (4-13 PacWest, 5-17 overall) Saturday, Feb. 18.
Hawai'i Hilo will then conclude its season with Biola on Feb. 21 and No. 8 Point Loma Nazarene on Feb. 23.
The six-team PacWest Championships is set for March 2-4 on O'ahu at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Joining the Vulcans and Cougars will be Point Loma Nazarene, Academy of Art and Biola and either Chaminade, Dominican or HPU claiming the final spot.
AMONGST THE BEST IN THE WEST
In the first NCAA Division II men's basketball regional rankings released, Hawai'i made the list of top 10 schools under consideration for best in the west.
In addition to the three conference champions out of the PacWest, Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Association, five other teams will qualify for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship West Regional based on these rankings.
In the latest Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) West Region Media Poll released earlier on Monday, the Vulcans came in at No. 7.
At the top was unbeaten Point Loma Nazarene with Azusa Pacific slotted at No. 5. Academy of Art followed at No. 8 and Biola in a tie for No. 9 with Seattle Pacific.
