There were 40 minutes of basketball Saturday afternoon at Hilo Civic that University of Hawaii at Hilo junior Parker Farris would like to forget.
Correction. There were 39 minutes and 59 seconds Farris would like to erase from the memory banks. The last second is one he and his Vulcan teammates will savor a little bit.
The team’s leading scorer, Farris was held without a field goal for all but the final second when he opened himself about 15 feet from the basket on the right baseline, collected a pass in traffic, went up under pressure and slipped through the winning basket in a 66-64 Pacific West Conference win over Hawaii Pacific, which came in riding an eight-game win streak that went down the drain with the last shot.
Almost, but not quite forgotten was the remarkable effort by senior point guard Jordan Russell, who had 33 points, including 25 in the first half when he made 9-of-11 baskets, including 5-of-7 from beyond the 3-point line.
“That’s the way the play was drawn up,” Russell said of the last shot going to Farris, who finished the game 1-for-7 and 0-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line. “We had run that play the whole game, but they jumped it and denied the pass, so this time, coach drew it up for Park thinking they wouldn’t be jumping it like they did earlier and he was right.”
UH-Hilo led most of the game, given a boost in the first half by three in a row from beyond the arc by Russell that lifted the score from 9-8 to 18-10 and the Vulcans held the advantage the rest of the half. The Sharks finally caught up and took the lead at 45-43 on a three-point play by senior Chauncey Orr with 15:20 left and it went back-and-forth down the stretch from there.
The Vulcans struggled to score points late in the game when they went 5:20 of playing time without a field goal from the point Van Lockett (15 points) caught a long inbounds pass and beat the defense to the bucket for a layup and a 55-47 lead with 8:38 left. He made two free throws a little later but Russell then broke the spell with another 3-pointer — his last of the game — at 3:18 that put UHH ahead, 60-59.
Farris, eight 3-point shots made earlier in the week — a school record — got his first points of the game with 38.6 left when he converted two free throws for a 64-63 lead. The Sharks got one back on a free throw but the timeout by UHH with 10.7 left initiated the game-winning play.
“I felt like they were keying on (Farris) for all 40 minutes,” Vulcans coach GE Coleman said. “We thought that play to him would be one but they were all over it most of the game.
“I just felt, at the end, we’d have a chance to get it to him and he’d be open because you figured they would pay a lot of attention to Jordan (Russell). It was one of those times it worked.”
In the process, the Vulcans (4-10) improved to 4-6 in conference play, handing Hawaii Pacific (12-5, 7-3) just its third loss in 10 games.
An added bonus was the return of 6-foot-5 senior Nate Walker who became eligible again and was fully recovered from an illness that slowed him for several weeks.
“That was a big team we had to play and being able to bring a guy 6-5 off the bench was huge for us,” Coleman said. “This was our biggest win of the year and he was a big part of it.”
The Vulcans close out their homestand Monday against nationally ranked (15th) Cal Baptist, following the women’s game that tips off at 5 p.m.
