UH-Hilo pulled off a huge shocker with an 81-77 win over No. 12 Point Loma 81-77 on Thursday night in San Diego.
The Vulcans trailed 69-66 with 4:09 left before Kupaa Harrison hit a 3-pointer to tie it and scored on a layup for a 71-69 Vulcan lead.
The Sea Lions tied it 71-71 with a pair of free throws, but UHH retook the lead on a Larry Bush layup with 1:55 remaining.
From there, the Vuls hit 3 of 4 free throws to close out the upset over Point Loma, (20-4, 16-2) which still sits in first place in the PacWest.
The Vuls (11-10, 9-8) are in sixth, the final spot for the six-team PacWest tourney.
Bush scored 27 points on 11 of 16 shooting, Harrison added 14 points, and Jordan Graves had 12 points for UHH, which shot 54 percent and made 9 of 21 from 3-point range.
“Larry was really, really good tonight,” coach GE Coleman said in a school release. “He wasn’t afraid to use his athletic ability to take the ball to the rim against a tall and athletic team.”
Preston Beverly scored 20 points, Daulton Hommes 17 and Ziggy Satterhwaite had 12 points for the Sea Lions, who also shot 54 percent and hit 6 of 14 from long distance.
The Vuls were able to force 11 turnovers and had just four giveaways.
“We really handled the adversity of playing away from home against one of the top teams in the nation,” Coleman said. “We played with poise and grit. To only have four turnovers against a team like that, on the road, is impressive.”
UHH next plays at second place Concordia (18-8, 14-3) on Saturday.
Point Loma and Concordia already qualified for the PacWest postseason.
Women
Point Loma 87, UHH 72: Sophomore guard Sydney Peterson scored 25 points on 7 of 15 shooting, hitting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, to spark the Lions over the Vulcans, who have lost two straight.
Cara Liggins added 19 points and Carol Schroeder had 18 points for the Lions (14-10, 13-5), who have won eight straight.
Point Loma is fourth and has already clinched a spot to the six-team PacWest tournament.
Mandi Kawaha scored 17 points, and Allie Navarette and Alyssa Movchan had 12 points each for the Vulcans (7-14, 4-13), who have lost two in a row and sit in 10th place.
The Lions outshot the Vuls, 44 to 36 percent, got more rebounds, 44-37, and made more 3-pointer, 10 of 17 to 11 of 30, and free throws, 27 of 30 to 9 of 13.