A cold stretch from the field leaves UH-Hilo’s men basketball team in a chilly spot.
Spured by a 17-point run that the saw the Vulcans lose their touch Saturday, Domincan avenged an earlier loss between the two teams with a 71-55 victory in San Rafael, Calif.
The Vuls’ third consecutive loss dropped them a half-game behind Hawaii Pacific in the race for the all-important sixth spot in the Pacific West Conference.
UHH led led by as many as seven points on two different occasions in the first half, but the teams went to the break tied 29-29. In the second half, the teams traded baskets for the first nine minutes, with the Vulcans (9-11, 7-9 PacWest) edging ahead 46-45 on a Jalen Thompson basket with 10:55 remaining.
Then the roof caved in.
UHH wouldn’t end its scoring drought for more than six minutes, and by that point the Penguins (5-18, 5-21) had gone ahead 62-46.
Elisha Duplechan led the Vuls with 15 points. Sasa Vuksanovic added 13 points and nine rebounds, Kupaa Harrison had 10 points and eight boards and Thompson had 11. UHH shot 42 percent from the field, including 4 of 14 on 3-pointers and was 7 of 13 from the free throw line.
Jaelyn Ragsdale led four Dominican players in double figures with 16 points.
The Vulcans take on Holy Names on Monday in Oakland in the second game of the road trip.
Domincan women 79, UHH 57: A five-point UHH halftime lead went up in smoke as the Penguins embarked on a 14-point spurt and outscored the Vulcans 27-6 in the third quarter to win at home.
Kim Schmelz had a season-high 21 points to lead the Vulcans (7-13, 6-10 PacWest), who opened up a four-game swing through the Bay area by shooting just 30.9%
Jerusha Paine topped her nation-leading scoring average with 27 points for Domincan (9-14, 6-11), adding 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Jessica Armstrong added 16, hitting all seven of her shots from the field. The Penguins nearly reached 60% shooting at 29 of 49.
UHH leading scorer Allie Navarette collected 12 points, five rebounds and four steals, and Mandi Kawaha had eight points and six assists.
Cal Poly tops UH in OT
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Junior Ballard posted 15 points and six rebounds as Cal Poly edged past Hawaii 79-75 in overtime on Saturday night.
Colby Rogers gave the Mustangs the lead for good at 77-75 on a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in overtime and added a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left to secure the win.
Jamal Smith had 14 points and seven rebounds for Cal Poly (7-16, 4-5 Big West Conference), which earned its fourth straight home victory. Rogers finished with 12 points. Tuukka Jaakkola had 12 points and three blocks.
Dawson Carper scored a career-high 20 points and had 11 rebounds for the Rainbow Warriors (14-8, 5-3). Drew Buggs added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Justin Webster had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Eddie Stansberry, the Rainbow Warriors’ leading scorer heading into the matchup at 17 points per game, was held to only 5 points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Hawaii defeated Cal Poly 65-61 on Jan. 16 in Honolulu. Hawaii plays Long Beach State at home on Wednesday.
UH women 63, UC Santa Barbara 51: Senior guard Julissa Tago scored 15 of her 21 points in the second half, junior center Lauren Rewers added 16 points off the bench and visiting Rainbow Wahine won their fifth in row.
In climbing to second place in the Big West, UH (13-10, 7-3) has won each of their last four by 10 or more points.
The Gauchos (9-13, 4-6) have dropped four of six contests and were held to 34.5% shooting.