HILO, Hawai'i – Zoar Nedd cashed in nine of the Vulcans' final 15 points, including hitting jackpot on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the game to overtime before the Hawai'i Hilo Men's Basketball team ultimately ousted Point Loma, 75-71, Tuesday night in Pacific West Conference action at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The Vulcans battled back from a double-digit second-half deficit but still found themselves down by three points with four seconds left in regulation. Jarin Edwards inbounded the ball to Nedd near halfcourt and dashed toward the basket between two defenders to loft up the game-tying splash as time expired.

Nedd continued to strike hot with another 3-pointer to open Hawai'i Hilo's scoring in the extra five-minute period before book-ending the victory on three free throws with seconds to go.

"I was just trying to get the best shot available," Nedd said. "We've been in a lot of these games recently where we've been in one-possession games and it's good to be on the other side, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates. Jarin threw me a good pass and I just put it up and it went in and then we won in overtime."

Point Loma had managed to make six 3-pointers in the opening half but came away with just one more perimeter bucket through the rest of regulation. The Sea Lions' Zack Paulsen tallied his 20th point with a 3-pointer to open overtime, but Nedd responded on the ensuing possession with a second-chance perimeter splash.

The scoreboard seemingly stood still through the next three minutes of play, but Kalique Mitchell and Charles Elzie III willed in tough inside baskets as the Vulcans claimed victory inside an electric Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

"We've taken the approach that it's a whole new season. We already did the first round of playing everybody," Nedd said. "We're not necessarily where we want to be, but we're three games out of first place; a lot can happen. That's one good week of basketball so we just been trying to take games one at a time and really just look at what's in front of us instead of what's ahead of us."

The two teams previously met earlier this month on Jan. 6 in San Diego with the Sea Lions coming out with a last-second win, 74-71.

UP NEXT

Hawai'i Hilo moved to a 12-8 overall record (6-5 PacWest) while Point Loma moved to 7-3 in conference play (12-6 overall).

The Vulcans return for five more contests at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, hosting Azusa Pacific (Jan. 27), Chaminade (Feb. 3), Biola (Feb. 8), Concordia University Irvine (Feb. 10) and HPU (March 2).

PATH TO PACWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The top six teams at the end of the regular season will make it to San Diego for the 2023-24 PacWest Conference Tournament set for March 7-9 at Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium.

Hawai'i Hilo sits at No. 6 while Point Loma holds the second spot in the standings.

Academy of Art is at the top with an 8-2 record.