HONOLULU — Junior Spencer Vering's put back with eight seconds to play proved to be the difference as defending PacWest Champion Hawai'i Pacific University held on to beat Montana State Billings 73-71 in the Hoops In Hawai'i Holiday Tuesday afternoon at the Hawai'i Convention Center.
 
The Sharks (7-4) never trailed in the second half, but were tied twice after holding eight-point leads. The Yellowjackets (8-6) had a chance to win the game, but a 3-point buzzer shot by Zack Rollins bounded off the heel of the basket.
 
 "We played strong down the stretch despite MSUB hitting shots late," said HPU head coach Darren Vorderbruegge. "We didn't always play smart, but we kept our heads and came away with a good regional win."
 
Senior forward Niksha Federico of San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic, recorded his eighth double-double of the season in leading the Sharks with 25 points and 12 rebounds with a block and four steals. Junior forward Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain State posted his third double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 boards with a block and a steal. Senior forward Albert Christensson of Lund, Sweden, added 12 points, as Vering, a junior forward from San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic chalked up 10 points.
 
Montana State Billings was paced by senior Kendall Denham with 25 points, including seven 3-point field goals (7-of-11), with junior transfer Zack Rollins adding 23 points.
 
HPU shot 44 percent from the floor (25-of-58), but only 21 percent (3-of-14) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks connected on 20-of-25 shots (80 percent) from the foul line. MSUB shot 43 percent (27-of-63) from the floor, nailing 12-of-31 from the arc (39 percent). The Jackets shot 49 percent in the second half after hitting 37 percent in the first. MSUB was 5-of-6 (83 percent) from the foul line.  The Sharks edged the Jackets 37-36 on the boards. HPU forced 19 turnovers from MSUB for 27 points, while the Jackets force 13 HPU turnovers for 12 points.
 
The Sharks held a two-point 71-69 lead in the final minute when Federico stole the ball from Denham on a drive to the basket. Federico held the ball and drove for a layup, but missed and Vering got the board and a put-back with 8.4 seconds to play to go up 73-69.
 
The Jackets came down and got a layup from Kobe Terashima with 3.2 seconds to play, and MSUB called timeout.
 
Pressure on the inbounds pass forced a long pass into the back court for HPU to was stolen by Terashima. He found a wide-open Rollins who missed a 24-footer at the buzzer that allowed HPU to hang on for the 73-71 win.
 
The Sharks and Yellowjackets saw the lead change six times in the first half, with MSUB going up by five with 9:29 to play on Rollins dunk giving MSUB a 19-14 lead. But the Sharks rallied with an 8-0 run capped by Federico free throws to retake the lead.
 
MSUB tied the game with a Denham 3-pointer with 5:46 to go at 22-all before the Sharks went on a 6-0 run started by a pair of free throws by senior guard Larry Lewis of Milwaukee, Wisc./Arcadia that gave HPU a lead it wouldn't give up. HPU took a 33-27 lead into the half.
 
A layup by Federico gave HPU its first eight-point lead, but the Jackets answered. A Rollins 3-pointer with 12:32 tied the game at 45, the first of three second half ties.
 
But MSUB was never able to regain a lead. Federico broke the tie at 45 with a layup and Vering broke a tie at 50 with a 3-pointer that started an 8-0 HPU run.
 
The Jackets fought back to tie the game a final time at 64-all on a triple by Denham with 3:51 to play, but Vering immediately answered with a jumper from the top of the key for a 66-64 lead with 3:33 to go that the Sharks would hang onto.
 
HPU, as all of NCAA Division II, now takes a week-long Life in the Balance Holiday Break. The Sharks have a couple of days of practice before returning to action on Jan. 3 with a PacWest Conference game against Academy of Art. Tipoff at the Neal Blaisdell Center is set for 6:30 p.m., following the women's game that tips at 4:30.