IRVINE, California – Hawai'i Hilo Men's Basketball closed out the final four minutes of action with a 13-5 run to turn back Concordia, 66-62, Thursday night in Pacific West Conference play at the CU Arena.
Julio Montes II found Nadjrick Peat inside for an alley-oop layup plus the foul to put the Vulcans ahead for the final time with 3:17 remaining. Peat followed up with an open dunk on Hawai'i Hilo's next possession and later made the final defensive stand on CUI's last shot attempt with single-digit seconds remaining.
Peat finished with 14 points (6-7 FG), seven rebounds and three blocks; bringing his season total to 44 to rank No. 8 among all Division-II shot blockers.
Montes II had a team-leading 18 points (7-8 FT) with five assists and two steals.
Jake Kosakowski grabbed eight boards and finished with six points on two 3-pointers, splashing his second long-range shot to spark the Vulcans' final 13-5 scoring spurt.
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 6-3 in PacWest play (13-6 overall) as Concordia moved to a 5-6 conference record (10-8 overall).
OTHER NOTES
- The Vulcans, credited as a whole with reigning PacWest Conference Defender of the Week honors, once again held their opponent below their scoring average and currently ranks No. 24 in Division II with a .405 field-goal-percentage defense.
- As a team, the Vulcans are shooting .413 from beyond the arc, ranking No. 2 in all of Division II between No. 3 Charleston (.406) and No. 1 Carson-Newman (.428).
- Nadjrick Peat collected seven boards to bring his career total to 530 rebounds, surpassing Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (20-23) to move to No. 4 all-time in program history.
- Hawai'i Hilo moved up into a tie at No. 2 in the PacWest standings. Point Loma (10-1) holds the top spot while CUI is slotted at No. 7.
- Saturday's upcoming contest at Point Loma concludes a four-game road trip as the Vulcans will return to the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium for a five-game home stand: Jan. 30 vs Academy of Art, Feb. 1 vs Menlo, Feb. 6 vs Fresno Pacific, Feb. 10 vs Jessup and Feb. 13 vs Chaminade.
UP NEXT: Saturday, Jan. 25 (2 PM / 4 PM PT) vs Point Loma (San Diego, California / Golden Gymnasium)