LA MIRADA, California – The Vulcans continued on with their regular-season ending slate on the road in southern California as they fell to Biola, 69-60, Tuesday evening at the Chase Gymnasium in the penultimate game of Pacific West Conference play.

Hawai'i Hilo took a three-point lead into halftime, but Biola came out the second half making four consecutive baskets and forcing a turnover to jump out front with a four-point advantage.

From there, the Eagles never let up as the Vulcans stayed within striking distance but just couldn't quite get over the hump as Biola built to as large of a lead as 11 points with under five minutes remaining in the game.

The Vulcans were able to get the deficit down to six points, but the Eagles continually re-extended their lead as they took the victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Darren Williams led the Vulcans with 19 points and five assists.
• Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones added 13 points with six rebounds and two steals.
• Kalique Mitchell came off the bench and poured in 14 points with seven boards.
• The Vulcans shot 16 of 28 (57.1 percent) at the free throw line while the Eagles were 7 of 15 (46.7 percent).
• Biola had the advantage inside with a 42-26 points-in-the-paint edge as well as a 42-34 margin on rebounds.
• Erik Howlin (16), Daniel Esparza (15) and Maximo Milovich (11) scored double-digit figures for the Eagles.

WHAT'S NEXT

Hawai'i Hilo fell to 13-6 PacWest (17-7 overall) while Biola moved to an 11-8 record (16-10 overall).

The Vulcans conclude their season Thursday, Feb. 23 against No. 6 Point Loma Nazarene (19-0 PacWest).

PACWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS

The six-team PacWest Championships postseason tournament is set for March 2-4 at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Joining the Vulcans will be PLNU, Azusa Pacific, Academy of Art, Biola and Chaminade.

With Tuesday's loss, Azusa Pacific has now wrapped up the No. 2 seed and the first-round bye that comes with it.

A Hawai'i Hilo win over PLNU in the regular season finale will slot the Vulcans at No. 3 with a first-round matchup set against No. 6 Chaminade.

With a loss to PLNU, the Vulcans would have to await the outcomes of Academy of Art's final two games this week before final seeding could be determined. A fourth seed would match up with fifth-seeded Biola.

Tickets for the three-day event are now on sale at HiloAthletics.com/TicketsPWC. Tournament information is available at HiloAthletics.com/PacWestMBB.

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 Championship West Regional based on these rankings.

In the last Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) West Region Media Poll released Feb. 13, 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.