HPU ready for showdown with PacWest's best
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
The rebounding effort Hawai'i Pacific needed against Brigham Young University-Hawai'i last Friday didn't come off the glass.
It came in the win.
On Feb. 1 the HPU Sea Warriors (14-6 overall, 5-3 PacWest) had lost to the sporadic Seasiders (13-8, 4-4). Struggling on offense, scoring just 18 points in the first half, HPU fought back in the second half to narrow the margin. But even senior guard Nick Spajic's 23 points — in the second half alone — couldn't steal the win, as BYUH won, 82-65.
A week later the Sea Warriors avenged their loss, defeating the Seasiders convincingly, 70-51.
HPU assistant Russell Dung was pleased with the way his team rebounded after the loss.
"We were motivated in terms of the way we got embarrassed up there," he said. "We outlined some of the mistakes we made against BYUH and it was good to see our guys respond in that way. It gave them a lot of confidence, to know they can beat a high-caliber team like BYUH. That's good for us going into this weekend."
And they beat BYUH despite a quiet outing by Spajic, HPU's returning leading scorer, who had just nine points and a season-high six assists.
"Nick is starting to come alive, which has been a big help," Dung said. "I think if he was doing as well as he did last year, we wouldn't have six losses. It's good to see he's coming around at just the right time."
His timing couldn't be more perfect.
HPU faces the conference's top team, Montana State Billings (19-3, 9-2), tomorrow and Saturday at Mid-Pacific.
Riding an 11-game winning streak, the Yellowjackets have been blitzing the competition, winning all of their 16 games at home so far.
Billings boasts six players in double figures in scoring. Senior guard Danny Philips leads the Yellowjackets in scoring with 15.8 points per game and the nation in 3-pointers made with 4.4 per game.
Known for its perimeter shooting, Billings averages 9.9 3-pointers per game, good for fourth in the nation.
Despite everything on paper, the stats, the standings, Dung is confident his team can step up — and keep up — with them.
"Talent-wise, we're the same," Dung said. "And depth-wise, also. We have a lot of seasoned players, and they have a veteran squad. It's going to be a good matchup. Playing at home is always an advantage. We'll be up for the challenge."
Having relied on Spajic and teammate Nash Subotic all last season, this year's squad had to learn to slow down the offense, to not force shots, to control the tempo of the game. And, most important, to move the ball around.
Subotic, one of the team's leading scorers, was benched during the BYUH game. Dung said that in addition to having the flu, Subotic "needed to do a little more of the other things besides scoring. We had to play good defense and rebound strong, and we needed a stronger rebounder inside."
Now, with seven games to play, Dung feels good about where HPU is in the standings: still in contention.
"We're just fortunate we've been playing well at this time," he said. "Momentum-wise, we can't ask for a better situation. Our success is in our own hands."
THIS WEEK
Basketball
Tomorrow: Western New Mexico at BYUH, 7:30 p.m., Cannon Activities Center; Montana State Billings at HPU, 7:30 p.m., Mid-Pacific Institute
Saturday: Western New Mexico at BYUH, 7:30 p.m., Cannon Activities Center; UH-Hilo at Chaminade, 7:30 p.m., McCabe Gym; Montana State Billings at HPU, 7:30 p.m., Mid-Pacific Institute
Monday: UH-Hilo at Chaminade, 7:30 p.m., McCabe Gym
Baseball
Today: UCLA at UH-Hilo, 2 p.m., Simmons Field in Kailua-Kona
Tomorrow: Pepperdine at UH-Hilo, 2 p.m., Simmons Field in Kailua-Kona
Saturday: Pepperdine at UH-Hilo, 11 a.m., Simmons Field in Kailua-Kona
Softball
Ko'olau Classic
Today: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Chaminade, 1 p.m., HPU Windward campus
Tomorrow: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. BYUH, 11 a.m., BYUH field; UH-Hilo vs. BYUH, 1 p.m., BYUH field
Saturday: Concordia vs. Chaminade, 11 a.m., BYUH field; Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. UH-Hilo, 11 a.m., HPU Windward campus; Concordia vs. BYUH, 1 p.m., BYUH field; BYUH vs. Chaminade, 3 p.m., BYUH field; UH-Hilo vs. HPU, 3 p.m., HPU Windward campus
Sunday: UH-Hilo vs. Chaminade, 9 a.m., HPU Windward campus; HPU vs. Chaminade, 11 a.m., HPU Windward campus; Concordia vs. UH-Hilo, 3 p.m., HPU Windward campus
Monday: Championships, TBA, BYUH field
Men's and Women's Tennis
Tomorrow: UH-Hilo at Chaminade, 11 a.m., Hale Koa
Saturday: UH-Hilo at BYUH, 9:30 a.m., BYUH courts
Sunday: UH-Hilo vs. HPU, 10 a.m., TBA
Monday: UH-Hilo vs. HPU, 10 a.m., TBA
Tuesday: (Men only) BYUH vs. HPU, 11 a.m., Kailua Racquet Club
