Box Score HONOLULU, HI (January 10, 2015) – The Hawai'i Pacific Men's Basketball Team (10-4, 5-3) made a last second stop and won 57-56 in a nail biter against Fresno Pacific (5-9, 1-6) on Saturday afternoon at Moanalua High School.
With 3:42 left to play,
Luke Hager got HPU to within one with a dunk that brought the HPU crowd to its feet. After a defensive stop,
Justin Long buried a three-pointer to put HPU up 52-50. FPU's Gabe Solarin matched Long's three with one of his own (1:47) to reclaim the lead by one for the Sunbirds. It was Hager who again stepped up for the Sharks with a basket to lead 54-53 (1:33).
The Sharks made another stop and
Darry Jones Jr. got to the line during the ensuing possession. He split the pair to give HPU a 55-53 advantage with 26 seconds to play. Fresno Pacific again responded with another three-pointer to recapture the lead with only eight seconds left. Jones Jr. again made a strong push towards the rim and was fouled with three seconds to go. This time the Minnesota product hit both foul shots to give HPU the lead back. The defense held in the final seconds, although FPU got a decent look at a game-winner.
The Sharks got off to a hot start in the first half leading 10-2 less than four minutes into the game. The visitors rebounded to tie the game by the 8:56 mark of the first half. From that point, neither team led by more than eight points for the rest of the game.
"It was another, tough, 'grind it out' game. Luke made a big impact on the boards and we had everyone contribute on offense, but again, our defense seemed to be the biggest factor in the game," said Head Coach
Darren Vorderbruegge.
Statistically, the game was as close as it could be. Both teams connected on 22 field goals, both teams hit seven three-pointers, but HPU made six foul shots to FPU's five. That one point was the difference in the game.
Hager grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to go with 13 points. Long posted a team-high 14 points in addition to three assists.
The two teams will play again on Saturday (January 17th) in Fresno.
