COSTA MESA, Calif. — Hawai’i Hilo Men’s Basketball surged from a nine-point deficit, and once again, sank late-game free throws to overcome Vanguard, 72-68, Saturday night in Pacific West Conference action at the Freed Center in Calif.
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Hawai’i Hilo Men’s Basketball surged from a nine-point deficit, and once again, sank late-game free throws to overcome Vanguard, 72-68, Saturday night in Pacific West Conference action at the Freed Center in Calif.
The Lions jumped ahead on the scoreboard from the start and throughout much of the second half, building up to as large of a lead as nine points with just over 11 minutes remaining. Jake Kosakowski hit his third and fourth 3-pointers of the night (16 total points) to spark a 12-0 run. Jarin Edwards (9 points) and Brody Davis (16 points; 7-11 FG) got buckets before Julio Montes II took off for 10 points, hitting the go-ahead basket at the 7:23 mark for a 55-54 lead.
Vanguard managed to whittle the gap to two points with under 20 seconds remaining, but the Vulcans defense got the job done in forcing a Lions turnover on a mishandled inbound play out of a timeout with six seconds to go. Kosakowski sank two free throws to book end the comeback victory.
While the Vulcans shot 4 of 8 on free throws in the final minute, they finished .750 overall (12-16 FT) to continue a trend of improved shooting at the charity stripe. Hawai’i Hilo has gone .662 on the season (No. 13 Pacwest) but have been finishing well over its average in the last four outings.
Hawai’i Hilo moved to 5-3 in PacWest play (12-6 overall) as Vanguard moved to a 5-5 conference record (11-5 overall).
Other notes
Kosakowski currently holds a .535 three-point shooting percentage on the season (53-99 3PT), which would put him No. 1 in all of Division II — ahead of Flagler’s Josiah Shackelford (.521) — and No. 2 in all three NCAA Divisions behind Catholic’s (D-III) Sean Neylon (.538).
As a team, the Vulcans are shooting .409 from beyond the arc, ranking No. 2 in all of Division II between No. 3 Charleston (.402) and No. 1 Carson-Newman (.423).
Nadjrick Peat collected eight boards to bring his career total to 523 rebounds, surpassing Todd Zirbel (79-80) to move to No. 5 all-time in the Vulcans record books. Peat needs six to move to No. 4 past Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (20-23).
Fifth-year Vulcans head coach Kaniela Aiona recorded his 50th PacWest Conference contest victory. Aiona previously earned his 50th overall win on Dec. 19, 2023. Earlier this season, he became the program’s fourth most-winningest head coach and currently holds a 72-42 overall record at Hawai’i Hilo.
Hawai’i Hilo moved up No. 3 in the PacWest standings. Point Loma (9-1) holds the top spot while Vanguard is slotted at No. 5.
Up next: 5 p.m. Thursday vs. Concordia (Irvine, Calif. / CU Arena).