Box Score HONOLULU, HI (November 28, 2014) – The Hawai'i Pacific Men's Basketball Team (3-1) defeated Carleton College (1-1) 62-57 on Friday afternoon at Moanalua High School.

The game appeared to be an HPU walkover in the early stages of the first half. With 15:56 left in the first period, Luke Hager got to the basket to give HPU a 9-0 lead.

However, give Division III Carleton credit as it stormed back with a 12-3 run to tie the game with 9:51 to go. The Knights kept the momentum going and took a 10 point lead at 31-21 with just 55 seconds left.

The Sharks responded with furry in the closing seconds, a run that likely saved the game. First Josh Morgan buried a three-pointer, after a turnover Justin Long made a layup and was fouled. Long missed the foul shot, but Darry Jones Jr. was there to clean it up and lay the ball in. The Sharks trailed by only three at the break.

At the 16:53 mark of the second half, HPU regained the lead on a pair of free throws by Clayton Guy. The Sharks never again trailed after that point, yet the game remained close with HPU's biggest lead being seven points.

The Sharks' advantage was one at 56-55 with fewer than two minutes to play before Long took it hard to basket and scored with 1:15 left. After a Carleton turnover, the visitors were forced to foul. Jones Jr. put the game on ice by hitting four foul shots in a 20 second span. The Knights scored at the buzzer, but it was only cosmetic.  

Long led all scorers with 17 points as Jones Jr. added 14. Hager posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Sharks were excellent at defending the long ball allowing just 2-17 (11.8%).

HPU opens PacWest play on December 4th at 6:30 pm when BYU-Hawaii visits the Neal Blaisdell Center.