With a second-half surge, UH-Hilo men’s basketball team buried Chaminade to keep its postseason hopes alive.
With a second-half surge, UH-Hilo men’s basketball team buried Chaminade to keep its postseason hopes alive.
Guard Darren Williams hit five 3-pointers to score 21 points and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and Jordan Graves delivered fine all-around performances as the Vulcans beat the Silverswords 78-62 in Honolulu for their eighth straight win.
UHH (10-1 PacWest Hawaii pod) will have to win again Saturday when the teams finish the regular season to have a chance to reach the West Region playoffs. The Vuls are seventh in the West, where the top six teams advance. They might have gotten help Friday night when Colorado School of Mines bounced No. 6 Black Hills State (11-7) from the RMAC tournament, though the 69-64 setback to No. 2 Mines (16-1) could be considered a “quality loss” for Black Hills in the eyes of the selection committee.
Also on Friday, No. 8 Fresno Pacific remained hot on the heels of UHH with its sixth consecutive win, 91-65 against Humboldt State.
As for what the Vuls can control, they used a 9-2 run midway through the second half to take it against Chaminade.
Tait-Jones produced 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, while Graves posted 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Vulcans won the battle of the boards 40-29 Sasa Vuksanovic just missed his eighth double-double of the season with 10 points and nine rebounds.
