Coach GE Coleman admitted a few days ago that he wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the 2015-16 UH-Hilo men’s basketball team.
He got a much clearer picture Saturday.
“I think we have a resilient group,” he said. “They play extremely hard, they played together and they played smart.”
It was almost enough to help the Vulcans pull off what would have been a sweet season-opening victory.
Parker Farris tied a school record with eight 3-pointers, and UH-Hilo had chances to grab the lead late before falling 90-85 to Division I Montana State at the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.
“There are no moral victories, but there were some positives,” Coleman said.
UH-Hilo nearly erased a 15-point second-half deficit, making it a one-point game on three occasions in the final 3:38.
Nate Walker’s layup with 1:34 remaining trimmed the Bobcats lead to 83-82, but Marcus Colbert hit a jumper and Danny Robison made two free throws to push the lead back to five.
In his Vulcans debut, Farris scored a game-high 29 points on 8-of-12 shooting on 3-pointers. His final 3 with 3:38 left capped a 11-2 run.
“Parker is a very good player and our guys found him,” Coleman said.
Playing without injured forward Darius Johnson-Walker, the Vulcans basically relied on just seven players. Guard Chris Holmes left with an injury midway through the second half, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds.
“There were times (late) in the game that we just couldn’t get a rebound,” Coleman said. “I really felt that if we could have just gotten one, it could have really made a difference.”
The Vulcans yielded 55 percent shooting to Montana State (1-1), but they took care of the ball, turning it over just seven times thanks to heady guard play. Van Lockett scored 14 points with eight assists and no turnovers, and Jordan Russell also finished with 14.
Walker had six before fouling out.
Guard Stephen Holm finished with 19 points for the Big Sky’s Montana State, which was coming off a 7-23 season. The Bobcats lost to Hawaii 87-76 on Friday night.
UH-Hilo’s bench was outscored 32-6. It shot 48 percent.
The Vulcans head to Seattle to face Central Washington on Friday.
Volleyball
Shelby Harguess shines on Senior Night with 10 kills, but Dixie State defeated the Vulcans 27-25, 12-25, 17-25, 15-25 at UH-Hilo gym.
The league-leading Red Storm (18-9, 15-4 Pacific West) hit .302 and outblocked the Vulcans 20-9.
Marley Strand Nicolaisen finished with 12 kills for UH-Hilo.
