HILO, Hawai'i – The Hawai'i Hilo Men's Basketball team ended the regular season with a big win at home over HPU, 70-52, in Pacific West Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Carlos Ramsey Jr. (18 points), Kalique Mitchell (18 points) and Nadjrick Peat (14 points) each finished with double-digit scoring figures as both Mitchell and Peat nabbed double-doubles on 13 and 16 rebounds, respectively.
For what was an early tightly-contested battle slowly turned into a bit of a rout, starting with a 10-2 run near the end of the first half fueled by eight points from Zoar Nedd — one of five Vulcans seniors honored prior to the game. A 10-0 run early in the second half pushed Hawai'i Hilo's lead to nearly 20 points as it maintained course through for the victory.
The Vulcans had just six turnovers to the Sharks' total of 14.
"We're playing at our best and we're going to need our defensive performance to travel with us when we go to San Diego," fourth-year Vulcans head coach Kaniela Aiona said. "I like the way we're playing, so now we've got to show up taking one game at a time and do the best we can. Today was fun. It was a little different because we're so locked into the game but a lot of other things going on off the court, and then it being Senior Day so I thought the group was really mature today showing up in a game where you can be really amped up and over emotional."
Both teams, along with Point Loma, Academy of Art, Biola and Azusa Pacific will have their seasons extended as part of next week's PacWest Conference Championship postseason tournament in San Diego, California. The Vulcans will have the No. 5 seed with a matchup against No. 4 Biola while HPU claimed the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 6 Azusa Pacific. No. 1 Point Loma and No. 2 Academy of Art will have first-round byes.
Full tournament information will be available at HiloAthletics.com/PacWestMBB.
Prior to Saturday's game, five Hawai'i Hilo Men's Basketball seniors were honored as part of Senior Day festivities: Zoar Nedd, Drew Yezbak, Cameron Wall, Kalique Mitchell and Charles Elzie III.
"We've been through a lot of battles together this year and over the last couple years with this senior class so it's a special group and I'm hoping that we can keep winning games so I can keep coaching them. I'm not ready to see them go yet," Aiona said.
Elzie III was not able to be with the team Saturday due to a family emergency with the recent passing of his mother Dana.
PACWEST HAWAI'I CHALLENGE
With the victory, the Vulcans secured the three points for men's basketball in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge after going 3-1 against HPU and Chaminade this season. The Hawai'i Hilo Women's Basketball team also wrapped up the season-series victory to put the Vulcans out front in the lead with a score of 14 through the conclusion of the winter sports season.
HPU now sits with a score of 12. Chaminade has 11.
In an effort to elevate Hawai'i-based rivalries, the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge has awarded the top school in athletics competition among the state's Division II institutions going back to the late 1970s.
Comprising 10 sports that all three schools participate in, points are awarded from head-to-head Pacific West Conference matchups as well as final placements at conference-ending championship events. The team with the highest total gets three points while the second highest gets two and the third-place finisher receives one.
UP NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo moved to a 18-11 overall record (12-8 PacWest) while HPU moved to 13-7 in conference play (18-10 overall).
The Vulcans will leave for San Diego early next week with a date set up against Biola in Thursday's PacWest Championship First Round at Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 12:45 p.m. Hawai'i Time (2:45 p.m. Pacific).
