HILO, Hawai'i – The Hawai'i Hilo Men's Basketball team remained stout down the stretch as it fended off Biola, 58-54, Thursday night in Pacific West Conference play at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The Vulcans took care of the ball early and piled the points on with a 21-4 run through the early portion of the opening half. During that span, Hawai'i Hilo forced nine of the Eagles' 16 total turnovers. The Vulcans finished the entire game with just nine giveaways.

Still, no lead is ever safe as the Eagles managed to come together for an 11-2 scoring stretch with single-digit minutes to play to make it just a 55-51 lead for the Vulcans. A Biola 3-pointer with 30 seconds to go made it just a three-point ballgame, but Jake Kosakowski nailed a lone free throw to pad the lead and ultimately seal the victory.

The two teams previously met at the end of December with Biola managing to narrowly come out with the victory on a buzzer beater.

UP NEXT

Hawai'i Hilo moved to a 14-9 overall record (8-6 PacWest) while Chaminade moved to 9-5 in conference play (14-8 overall).

The Vulcans return for two more contests at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium hosting Concordia University Irvine (Feb. 10) and HPU (March 2).

Saturday's game is Think Pink Night in support of breast cancer awareness to reflect the Hawai'i Hilo Women's Basketball team's annual Play4Kay game. The first 50 attending fans wearing pink will receive a Vulcans-branded mini foam shaka.

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 continues to hold the No. 5 spot with Biola one slot ahead.

Academy of Art and Point Loma is tied at the top with 10-4 records.