The UH-Hilo men’s basketball team got outmuscled by Point Loma, which looks like a bunch of physical arm wrestlers from San Diego.
The Sea Lions muscled their way into good scoring position and crushed the Vulcans 89-59 on Saturday night at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium
The Vulcans (4-6, 2-4 PacWest) got overwhelmed in several categories. They were outrebounded 36-18, gave up more points in the paint 46-26 and more second-chance points 9-3.
Sara Vuksanovic scored 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting, Elisha Duplechan added 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting, and Kaleb Gilmore came off the bench for 13 points, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, for the Vuls, who shot 44 percent from the field, including 9 of 21 from long distance.
Kupaa Harrison was plagued by the flu but played 31 minutes and was held to one point on 0 of 4 shooting. He leads the team with 19.8 points per game.
“Before the game, we knew what we were up against,” UHH coach G.E. Coleman said. “They were the more physical team the entire time.
“We have the flu going through the whole team. But it’s no excuses. We have to find a way. We need to rest and get ready for Biola on Monday.”
The defending conference and West region champion Sea Lions (9-3-2, 5-1 PacWest) have won nine straight and lost four of their starters from a year ago.
Kaden Anderson scored 20 points, Jordan May and Ben Okhotin 13 each, and Brock Mackenzie added 10 points for the Sea Lions, who shot 62 percent from the floor, including 6 of 17 from 3-point distance.
The physical Sea Lions got into good scoring position in the post, backing the Vuls down. They also had the quickness to put the ball on the floor and race to the rim. They also knocked down enough 3-pointer to space the floor for their post offense.
“I thought we did a good job defending them. In San Diego (82-68 loss), we give up too many 3-pointers (9 of 25),” Coleman said.
May guarded Harrison, who’s a versatile scorer. His off-the-ball defense was tough. It didn’t help that Harrison didn’t have his usual fire because of the flu.
“Not a lot of good things,” Coleman said. “They took away what we wanted to do, play inside-out.”
The Sea Lions often doubled Vuksanovic once he touched the ball. But the 6-foot-9 junior was still able to score because he can shoot with both hands and has a toolbox of slippery moves around the rim.
“He’s really skilled,” Coleman said. “He’s not really athletic, but he’s got good footwork.”
In the second half, the Sea Lions used their physicality to score. Two cases in point: Sterling Somers got into the lane, missed his shot, grabbed a rebound and missed again. He collected his second board and scored on his third attempt for a 49-27 lead with under 16 minutes.
Noah Staples, who’s 6 feet 5 and 205 pounds, backed down his defender, got an easy shot to drop and drew a foul. Staple converted his free throw for a three-point play and a 60-31 lead with 13:14 left.
In the first half, Point Loma shot 59 percent from the field to seize a 41-22 halftime lead, relying on a 16-2 run. During that stretch, the Sea Lions scored twice on putbacks and several stepback shots. The visitors seemed to have watched the same dribble, step back and score video.
Somers flashed a fancy spin move to score, and Mackenzie easily scored to put Point Loma ahead 21-6 with 12 minutes remaining until halftime.
The Vulcans next host Biola at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Civic.
