UH-Hilo cound’t guard the unstoppable.
UH-Hilo cound’t guard the unstoppable.
How else to describe Azusa Pacific’s Joey Schreiber?
Schreiber just kept on making 3-pointers Thursday, 10 and all, and he didn’t stop until he deepened the Vulcans’ playoff hole with a school-record 48 points.
“When that first shot went in, I could tell I was feeling good, and my teammates kept finding me,” Schreiber said after shooting down UH-Hilo 95-79 in Azusa, Calif. “I guess it was just my night. I had no idea about the record, I was just shooting open shots.”
Falling to 0-3 on a unmerciful road trip that mercifully ends Saturday at Point Loma, the Vulcans (6-13, 4-9) have lost five in a row and seven of eight.
Despite their recent woes, UHH entered the games on the heels of Azusa Pacific for the sixth and final PacWest playoffs spot, but the Cougars (11-13, 6-8) ended a three-game losing streak and lead UHH by 1 1/2 games after sweeping the season series.
UH-Hilo is last in the conference, allowing 82.7 points per game and 37.3 percent 3-point field goal parentage.
Junior forward Brian Ishola led the Vulcans with a career-high 25 points, and he grabbed nine rebounds.
It was undone by an early 17-1 run and trailed 29-9, but little did UH-Hilo know that its fate might have been sealed even before the game started.
Cougars coach Justin Lelsie saw Schreiber heat up during the afternoon shootaround.
“The coaches played Joey and Will Ferris, and those two combined from 10 feet off the 3-point line rattled down 26 out of 30,” Leslie said. “Joey was on fire, and you could tell he was in one of those moods the rest of the afternoon. Once he got that first look in the game up and it went in, he got that look in his eye and we just kept looking for him.”
Schreiber, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, scored 24 points in each half and finished 15 of 19 from the field, including a school-record 10 of 13 on 3-pointers and made all eight of his free throws.
Eric Wattree scored 13 points for the Vulcans and Ryley Callaghan added 10.
Women
Azusa Pacific 70, UH-Hilo 52
Matters got away from the Vulcans in the second quarter as the Cougars went on a 18-2 run and never looked back for their fifth consecutive victory.
“Azusa is a good team and they have been playing well,” UH-Hilo coach David Kaneshiro said. “But we are very disappointed because we know we didn’t play as well as we can.”
Loser of three of four heading to Point Loma on Saturday, the Vulcans (5-11, 5-8) are now as close to 11th place as they are to the sixth and final conference playoff spot, falling 2 1/2 games behind No. 6 Notre Dame de Namur.
Kim Schmelz scored 17 points for UH-Hilo and Asia Smith neared a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.
The Vulcans are last in the conference in scoring (56.6 points per game) and field-goal percentage (35.7 percent).
UH-Hilo committed 20 turnovers, and the Cougars (12-10, 10-4) held a 38-18 advantage in points in the paint.