HILO, Hawai'i — No. 14 Hawai'i Pacific University used a powerful second half to overcome a sluggish start on the way to a 102-88 victory over Hawai'i-Hilo on Saturday afternoon in PacWest Conference action at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
 
The 14th ranked Sharks (18-1, 10-1) remained at the top of the PacWest with the victory and continued the best start in school history. The Vulcans (6-10, 4-6) dropped their second straight.
 
HPU trailed 49-41 at the half, but behind 85.7 percent shooting from the floor, outscored UHH 61-40 in the second half to win by 14.
 
"I don't think I've ever had a team shoot 85 percent in the second half," said HPU head coach Darrin Vorderbruegge. "It was definitely a tale of two halves. We didn't shoot well at all in the first half, but our guys made the adjustments. They also played better defensively in the second half."
 
"This is a tough place to play," Vorderbruegge added. "We're lucky to get out of here with a win."
 
The Sharks shot 41 percent in the first half (14-of-34) before going 24-of-28 from the floor in the second half. Of the four shots missed in the second half, three were from the 3-point arc as HPU was 5-of-8 (63 percent) in the period.
 
Overall, HPU shot 61 percent from the floor (38-of-62), including 44 percent from the arc (8-of-18). The Sharks hit 18-of-29 from the foul line (62 percent). UHH was held to 39 percent from the floor in the second half as the Vulcans finished 43 percent from the field (25-of-58), hitting 12-of-34 (35 percent) from the arc. UHH made 26-of-35 from the charity stripe. HPU won the rebounding battle 37-31 and forced 15 Vulcan turnovers to 13 for the Sharks.
 
HPU was led once again by the Dynamic Duo of guard Connor Looney, a 6-2 senior from Palmer, Alaska/Palmer and swingman Chauncey Orr a 6-4 graduate student from Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green. Looney collected 22 points and Orr 21 as five Sharks scored in double figures. Looney had three assists and three steals as well. Guard Jordan Martin, a 5-11 senior from Goodyear, Ariz./Millennium, got a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists. Forward Elliott DeFreitas, a 6-10 senior from Essex, England/County Upper, added 15 points, while forward Nikola Urli, a 6-7 sophomore from Zagreb, Croatia, came off the bench with 10 points.
 
UH-Hilo had five players in double-figures, led by Parker Ferris with 26 and Eric Wattree III with 15. Randan Berinobis scored 12 points and led the Vulcans with eight rebounds and three steals.
 
The game had the early markings of a trap for the Sharks, as the Vulcans opened on a 9-2 run for the early lead. HPU overcame that run to take a brief lead at 19-17 on a pair of Looney free throws with 12:30 to play in the half. But the Vulcans answered with a 3 from Farris. After battling through four lead changes, UHH opened a lead it extended to nine on a traditional 3-point play as Ryan Reyes got a layup and free throw with 1:13 remaining.
 
DeFreitas got a free throw to send the game to the half with the Vulcans leading 48-41.
 
One of the most pivotal moments of the game came as the teams left for the locker rooms at the half, when a technical foul for taunting was assessed to the Vulcans leaving the floor.
 
Starting the second half, Looney hit one of the two free throws, but that started the run for HPU as the Sharks went on an 11-2 run to grab the lead 52-51 with 16:19 to play.
 
The two squads would exchange the lead a total of seven times in the half with HPU grabbing it for good when forward Colfax Nordquist, a 6-3 senior from Elk Grove, Calif./Pleasant Grove, got a layup with 13:48 to play and followed it with a 3-pointer on the next possession to start a 9-2 run.
 
HPU used mini-spurts to extend the lead, then ripped of a 10-3 run to grab an 18-point 94-76 advantage with 2:10 to play and salted the game away for a 102-88 win.
 
The win closed a five-game road stretch for the Sharks and marks a sweep in the regular season series against the Vulcans.
 
 HPU returns for a home game on Thursday night against BYU-Hawaii in the Seasiders' final regular season contest against HPU. Tipoff is set for 6:30 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center downtown.