It was a lost road trip for the Hawaii Hilo men’s basketball team. ADVERTISING It was a lost road trip for the Hawaii Hilo men’s basketball team. The Vulcans concluded their 11-day road trip Saturday night with a sixth consecutive
It was a lost road trip for the Hawaii Hilo men’s basketball team.
The Vulcans concluded their 11-day road trip Saturday night with a sixth consecutive loss and one fewer player than it had at the start of the four-game grind after coach GE Coleman dismissed senior wing player Ryan Reyes for “actions detrimental to the program.”
Reyes played in 19 games this year, averaged 21.2 minutes per game, 4.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and shot 39 percent from the floor and 62 percent from the foul line.
Reyes was sent home Friday, following a 95-79 loss the night before to Azusa Pacific.
“There was no specific incident,” Coleman said, “it was more about multiple actions throughout the playing season.”
The dismissal of Reyes left the Vulcans with what amounts to a tight seven-player rotation.
“The roster is small, but it’s a group of guys that are all in and they all want to see if they can have success in the last seven Pacific West Conference games of the season.”
The Vulcans (6-14, 4-10 PacWest) finished the trip with a 87-73 loss to Point Loma.
Randan Berinobis led UH-Hilo with 16 points and six rebounds.
Brian Ishola tallied 15 points. Parker Farris added 14, Eric Wattree had 11 despite playing only 20 minutes before fouling out, and Darius Johnson-Wilson contributed 10.
The Sea Lions (13-9, 9-6) used runs of 11-0 and 10-0 to pull away in the second half.
• After winning their opener on the trip at Dixie State, the UH-Hilo women lost their third on a row, 86-58 to Point Loma.
Kim Schmelz had 25 points for the Vulcans (5-12, 5-9), hitting 5-of-7 3-point attempts.
UH-Hilo trailed 50-33 at the half and never cut the deficit below 14.
Sydney Mercer and Sharlei Graham-Bernisto finished with eight points each, while Alexa Jacobs added seven points and four assists.
Point Loma (19-3, 13-2) was led by Roya Rustamzada (22 points), Alex Brunk (17) and Sydney Tonack (15).
The Vulcans’ men and women have three more home games, starting with games against Fresno Pacific on Thursday in the school gym.
Bart Wright contributed to this report
