SAN RAFAEL, California – With three games left to go in the race toward the postseason, Hawai'i Hilo Men's Basketball picked up a big win with a 96-68 victory over Dominican on Wednesday night in Pacific West Conference play at the Conlan Center.

It was a tight contest through the first 16 minutes of action before the Vulcans began to pull away, taking a tied score and outscoring the Penguins, 12-6, to close the half. Dominican managed to stay within striking distance through the opening moments of the second period, but Hawai'i Hilo forced the Penguins to go 1 of 7 from the field to take a double-digit advantage of 67-53 near the 10-minute mark. From there, the Vulcans never let up, splashing five of their 13 total 3-pointers to help build to as large of a lead as 28 points.

Hawai'i Hilo shot .556 (30-54 FG) from the field while also posting an 85.2 percentage at the free throw line (23-27 FT). Four Vulcans finished in double-digit scoring figures: Julio Montes II (19), Brody Davis (12), Andre Norris (11) and Jake Kosakowski (22).

Hawai'i Hilo moved to 9-8 in PacWest play (16-11 overall) as Dominican moved to a 4-14 conference record (9-17 overall).

The Vulcans moved to No. 5 in the PacWest standings with Dominican slotted at No. 14. Point Loma (15-2) and Biola (14-4)  have wrapped up two of six PacWest Championships postseason tournament spots with Academy of Art (11-5), Westmont (11-7), Hawai'i Hilo, Chaminade (10-9), Fresno Pacific (10-9), HPU (8-9) and Concordia (7-9) all vying for the final four berths.

UP NEXT: Saturday, Feb. 22 (Noon / 2 PM PT) vs Jessup (Rocklin, California / Warrior Arena)