The UH-Hilo basketball team led Holy Names by 18 points at halftime and lost in what could be filed under the heading: One that got away.
The Hawks staged a furious comeback and defeated the Vulcans 85-77 on Monday night at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, where UHH lost its second straight.
Hawks guard Alonzo Young drained a 3-pointer to tie it 64-64 with 5:25 left, and from there it was tied four more times.
Rob Fuller scored to push the Hawks ahead 75-73 with a minute left. Then Taylor scored off a UHH turnover to increase the lead to 77-73. Taylor got another turnover, was fouled and buried both free throws for a 79-73 advantage with 37.5 left.
From there, Holy Names buried 6 of 6 free throws, including 4 of 4 by Taylor, to stun the Vulcans, who finished with 18 painful turnovers.
Taylor finished with 19 points, Andrew Green added 14 points, and Fuller had 12 points for the Hawks (4-7-, 3-3 PacWest), who beat Hawaii Pacific 61-59 last Thursday on Oahu.
Kupaa Harrison scored 17 points to lead a balanced UHH attack. Jordan Graves added 16 points, Jalen Thompson 15, Cleo Cain had 11 points off the bench, and Larry Bush scored 10 points for the Vuls (3-5, 1-3).
UHH shot 42 percent from the field, 45 percent in the first half and just 38 percent in the second.
In the first half, the Vulcans played well on both sides of the ball to grab a 40-22 lead at the break in what was a jump-shooting contest.
Thompson buried three straight triples to push UHH ahead 13-5 while the Hawks struggled with their shooting, making just 29 percent. Thompson went 3 of 8 from long distance.
UHH, which has had rebounding issues, blocked out better and cleaned the glass, outrebounding the Hawks 37-36.
In the first half, UHH made just 3 of 6 from beyond the arc while the Hawks drilled just 1 of 10 from long range.
The Vulcans fronted the Holy Names’ ball-handlers and closed out shooters on kickouts. When the ball bounced off the class, UHH crashed the boards and muscled the Hawks off the ball.
When the Vuls ran in transition, they worked the ball and waited for open shots. Harrison hit a jump hook in the lane for a 35-17 lead with under five minutes. That was sandwiched by a pair of shots by Cleo Cain, who came off the bench and added six points in 14 minutes in the first half.
Kaleb Gilmore scored right before the buzzer to hand UHH a 40-22 halftime lead.
To kick off the second half, it was an ominous start when Andre Green got a steal and scored a layup in transition. He followed with a 3-pointer off a kickout pass.
After Devin Johnson scored, Taylor beat everyone down the court and dropped in a layup. Then the Hawk delivered another body shot, scoring in the paint when Zac Young scored under the basket to get the Hawks within 42-31 with under 17 minutes left.
