HONOLULU – The Hawai'i Pacific University men's first venture on the hardwood in 2018-19 came with a sound thrashing in an 81-45 exhibition loss to  Division I cross-town neighbor Hawai'i on Friday night at UH's Stan Sheriff Center.
 
The Sharks got their only lead on senior Spencer Vering's jumper before the Rainbow Warriors went on an 8-0 run as part of a 17-2 opening haymaker that knocked out the downtowners.
 
"We went into the game wanting to learn where we were heading into the season," said HPU head coach Darren Vorderbruegge. "We learned that pretty quickly. Of course, this UH team is not bad either, and we won't see many squads like it this season."
 
HPU shot just 29 percent from the floor (16-of-55) and made only 19 percent (4-of-21) from the 3-point arc. A bright spot was hitting 9-of-10 from the foul line.
 
UH nailed 60 percent from the field (33-of-55) and 8-of-24 (33 percent) from the arc. The Rainbow Warriors hit 7-of-13 shots from the foul line. Hawai'i outrebounded HPU 41-23.
 
The Sharks were led in the game by newcomer Ronald Blain. The 6-5 transfer from Grossmont College is a junior from McDonough, Ga./Union Grove who scored 12 points with six rebounds to pace the team. Senior Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia, the Preseason PacWest Player of the Year, had nine points and five boards while drawing quite a bit of attention from UH when he had the ball. Vering, the senior from San Diego/Mater Dei had six points.
 
The Warriors placed four players in double-figures, led by Zigmars Raimo with 20 points along with eight rebounds. Eddie Stansbury collected 12 points, while Jack Purchase double-doubled with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Brocke Stepteau chipped in 10 points and joined Raimo and Purchase with four assists each.
 
The Sharks trailed by 18 at the half 41-23, but came out in the second half to cut the lead to 14 at 48-34 on a Blain 3-pointer with 15: 57 to play. UH then rattled off an 18-0 run over the next six-and-a half minutes and cruised to the 81-45 win.
 
The Sharks will return to the practice floor before opening the season officially next Friday, Nov. 9 when they face Alaska Anchorage in a high noon tipoff as part of the PacWest-GNAC Challenge hosted by Chaminade at McCabe Gym.