With its season perhaps flashing before its eyes Sunday night, UH-Hilo’s men’s basketball team picked itself up, dusted itself off and went to work.
The work never ends, because the Vulcans made the quick turnaround and flew to Southern California for a juggernaut of a road trip, hoping to not get knocked down again.
Into the Sea Lions’ den, so to speak.
“We can play really well on the road and maybe still get tripped up at those schools,” coach GE Coleman said, “cause it’s the best of the best. Even if we lose one or two, whatever, you just have to stay positive and not let it snowball.”
With four games – three against the PacWest’s three top teams – in eight days, the Vuls (10-10, 8-8 Pacific West Conference) will dig in and start shoveling Thursday at first-place Point Loma (20-3, 16-1), which no doubt remembers the team’s first encounter.
On Jan. 18 at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, the Sea Lions, now ranked 11th in Division II, jumped out to a 31-point lead before UHH responded with a 54-26 run, almost turning the contest into a one-possession game before losing by 10.
The Vuls’ victory against Dominican on Sunday combined with Academy of Art (8-10, 10-15) losing the the final two legs of its Hawaii trip, including 90-78 to Chaminade on Wednesday, put UHH a game in front in the race for the coveted sixth and final spot in the conference tournament.
Problem is, the Vuls will have to pull off a big upset to avoid joining the Urban Knight at 8-10. On Saturday, UHH visits second-place Concordia (18-8, 14-3), the only PacWest team to beat Point Loma.
Through 20 games, guards James Griffin (17.4 points per game) and Larry Bush (14.5) and forward Kupaa Harrison (10.0) have established themselves as go-to players at crunch time, but it’s tough road trips like this one, Coleman said, where season-ending injuries to Devin Johnson and Damani Whitlock start to catch up with the team.
“It’s not an excuse, it’s a reality,” Coleman said. “Without having Devin and Damani, that’s two of your top six-seven players. It affects us a little bit on the court, but depth-wise, you get into league and our travel, that’s where it affects you the most.”
On paper, the best opportunity for a win on the trip comes Tuesday at Biola (12-10, 8-8). Among the most frustrating losses for UHH this season was a 79-77 home setback to the Eagles on Feb. 4 in which the Vuls lost a 20-point lead and which left Coleman bemoaning the foul discrepancy. Next Thursday at Azusa Pacific (15-9, 12-5), UHH will try to duplicate its best win of the season (64-60 at home Feb. 1).
Academy of Art has four games remaining: home contests against Holy Names (10-8, 11-12) and Notre Dame de Namur (1-22, 1-16) and road ventures to Azusa and Biola.
The Vuls also have Notre Dame de Namur at home before finishing vs. Chaminade (18-4, 12-4).
The final piece of the playoff puzzle might just come down to which team can beat a conference foe ahead of it in the standings.
Starting on Thursday, the Vuls have four chances.
“We always play hard,” Coleman said. “If we do that and continue to try to get better over the next six games, hopefully we have a chance to do something at the end.”
