UH-Hilo tops HPU, 97-66
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Playing for its postseason life, the Hawai'i-Hilo men's basketball team turned to its ultimate lifesaver in Ryan Abrahams against Hawai'i Pacific last night.
Abrahams, a junior guard, scored a game-high 27 points and the visiting Vulcans overwhelmed the Sea Warriors in the second half en route to a 97-66 Pacific West Conference win at Mid Pacific Institute gym.
A crowd of 500 watched the Vulcans improve to 18-9 overall and 10-5 in the PacWest. The Sea Warriors dropped to 17-10 and 6-9. It was the final regular-season game for both teams and HPU's Senior Night.
The Vulcans needed to win last night's game to stay in contention for one of six at-large berths to the NCAA II Regional Tournament on March 13-15. UH-Hilo was ranked 10th in the latest West Regional poll and must move up at least two spots. The postseason teams will be announced next week.
"I think we're in," UH-Hilo coach Jeff Law said. "But anything can happen. I'm still crossing my fingers, crossing my toes, and sometimes, I look like I'm crossing my eyes."
With Abrahams and Osadonor Esene playing well, UH-Hilo didn't need any luck. The two combined to score 47 points and helped the Vulcans beat the Sea Warriors for the second night in a row. UH-Hilo won 70-66 Wednesday.
"When we looked at the newspapers and going into these two games against HPU, people were saying just win these two games and we'll probably make it (to postseason)," Abrahams said. "Hopefully, we'll get a chance to go on."
HPU first-year head coach Russell Dung said UH-Hilo is a worthy postseason team. He said UH-Hilo solidified its status by beating HPU on both nights and finishing second in the six-team PacWest.
"I think they deserve to go," Dung said. "They're a good team, they're disciplined, and they have a game plan and they came out ahead tonight."
Much of the credit went to Abrahams, who made up for a 1-for-15 shooting performance Wednesday.
"I kind of had my head down a little bit," Abrahams said. "But I knew how important it was to come back. I knew it couldn't last long."
In a Senior Night tribute, Dung started all five of his seniors last night — Rashad Davis, Ty Riley, Nic Walters, Nate Block and Leandro Maruoka. They finished with 51 of the Sea Warriors' 66 points. Maruoka had 19 points and 13 rebounds, Block 19 points and Walters 11 points.
In the first half, the Vulcans broke open a 35-35 game with a 7-0 run to grab their largest lead of the half at 42-35 with 43 seconds remaining. Abrahams scored five of his 14 first-half points during the surge. The Vulcans led 42-37 at halftime.
UH-Hilo surged in the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Sea Warriors, 55-29, and outrebounding them 26-17. UH-Hilo shot 55.3 percent (21 of 38) in the second half and forced the Sea Warriors to miss 27 of 39 shots.
UH-Hilo led by as many as 35 points in the second half. Kimo Keiter-Charles' 3-point basket increased UH-Hilo's lead to 97-62 with 54 seconds remaining.
"It seemed like they didn't miss anything and our shots weren't falling," Dung said. "As soon as they got a comfortable lead, they got a little more confident and gained a little momentum, and they put some shots home."
• Brigham Young-Hawai'i 91, Chaminade 80: Alexus Foyle, the 2002 Pacific West Conference Player of the Year, scored a game-high 38 points as the 17th-ranked Seasiders defeated the Silverswords.
The first-place Seasiders improved to 18-3 overall and 12-2 in the PacWest. The third-place Silverswords dropped to 12-14 and 7-7. Forward Mike Donegan led Chaminade with 25 points.
