The UH-Hilo basketball team stopped its five-game PacWest slide with an 88-70 win over Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday night at the Shark Tank on Oahu.
Jamie Strong came off the bench and scored 25 points on 7 of 12 shooting from 3-point range, Donald McHenry added 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting, and Kameron Ng had 16 points on 6 of 13 shooting for the Vulcans (11-9, 7-6 PacWest), who shot 50%, including 14 of 26 from long distance and are tied for sixth in the standings.
Trey Chapman scored 14 points and Rodney Hounshell added 12 point for the Sharks (3-15, 0-13), who shot 56%, including 5 of 22 from 3-point range and trailed 49-31 at halftime.
The Vulcans forced 23 turnovers and outscored the Sharks on points off turnovers, 29-11. UHH played without Ethan Jetter, the team’s best post defender, and got dominated in the paint. HPU had more rebounds, 42-28, and outscored UHH in points in the paint, 42-28.
UHH took its largest lead, 89-64, with 2:38 remaining over the Sharks, who have lost 16 straight.
In the first half, the Vulcans bolted to a 49-31 lead behind 14 points each from Ng and Strong. Ng’s brother, HPU guard Kordel Ng, had four points.
Ng hit 5 of 9 from the field, and Strong sank 4 of 5 from long distance.
UHH hit 9 of 12 from 3-point range in the first half while HPU made just 1 of 8.
The Vulcans also played without junior point guard Darren Williams, who’s still nursing a hamstring injury.
UHH next plays Chaminade (8-13, 6-9) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at McCabe gym on Oahu.
Women
The Vulcans slipped past the Sharks 68-67 on a layup by Nikki Miller with four seconds left on an asset from Mandi Kawaha.
Kawaha sank 2 of 2 free throws to put UHH ahead 66-64 with 25 seconds remaining. Then Avery Cargill tied it 66-66 with a jump shot in the paint with 18 seconds to play. Cargill drew a foul and made the free throw for the three-point play and a 67-66 lead.
Kawaha scored 24 points on 6 of 20 shooting and 11 of 13 free throw, Heaven Samayoa-Mathis added 12 points while Miller and Sara Shimizu had 10 points each for the Vulcans (8-7, 5-6 PacWest), who are seventh in the standings.
The Sharks had 17 turnovers, and the Vulcans outscored them on points off turnovers, 20-9.
Tavia Rowell scored 24 points, and Cargill had 21 points for the Sharks (4-14, 1-10), who have lost 11 straight and are still swimming in a sea of uncertainty.
HPU coach Reid Takatsuka was placed under investigation for “issues relating to athletes’ well-being,” the school announced on Dec. 18. The school has not released any statement on the investigation’s status.
HPU senior guard Amy Baum, the PacWest preseason player of the year, has only played seven games, her last an exhibition loss to Loyola Marymount on Dec. 7. It was five days before the Sharks played at UHH, when Takatsuka had an unexplained absence from the game. Baum wasn’t at the game either.
The school announced that HPU men’s coach Darren Vorderbruegge would take over the women’s team on an interim basis.
UHH next plays Chaminade (1-14, 0-11) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at McCabe gym on Oahu.