HILO, Hawai'i – Five Vulcans finished with double-digit scoring figures to help the Hawai'i Hilo men's basketball team fend off Holy Names, 82-68, while clinching a spot in the Pacific West Conference Championships set for early March.
Kalique Mitchell led the Vulcans with 22 points off the bench on 10-of-12 shooting with nine rebounds.
After taking an 11-point advantage into halftime, the Vulcans stood strong to fend off the Hawks as the lead was whittled down to seven points three times, but that was the closest the score would get.
Hawai'i Hilo became the third team in the conference to clinch a berth in the six-team postseason tournament with Azusa Pacific locking up one other spot and unbeaten Point Loma Nazarene claiming the regular season title with its win Wednesday evening against Biola.
Currently, Academy of Art (10-6) sits at No. 4 followed by Biola (9-7) at No. 5, Dominican at No. 6 (7-10) and Chaminade at No. 7 (7-11).
BY THE NUMBERS
- Aniwaniwa-Tait Jones scored 15 points with eight rebounds. The third-year player is now 18 points from reaching 1,000 points scored in his career at Hawai'i Hilo.
- Daren Williams scored 14 points followed by Ramsey Carlos Jr.'s 13 and rounded out by Jarin Edward's 11 points (2-3 FG).
- LJ Smith led the Hawks with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
WHAT'S NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo improved to 15-5 overall, 11-4 PacWest while Holy Names moved to a 2-13 record (5-18 PacWest).
The Vulcans return for their final home game Saturday, Feb. 11 against Fresno Pacific (4-11 PacWest) with tip-off set for roughly 7:30 p.m. at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. Darren Williams will be the lone senior honored before the start of the game.
Hawai'i Hilo and FPU previously met Jan. 24 with the Vulcans winning, 75-58.
Holy Names will travel to O'ahu to play HPU and Chaminade.
AMONGST THE BEST IN THE WEST
Hawai'i Hilo came in ranked at No. 8 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.
