HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University opened the game with a 10-0 run and never trailed as HPU began PacWest Conference action with a 74-60 victory over Hawai'i Hilo Thursday night in the Moanalua High School Gym.
 
The Sharks (3-1, 1-0) took advantage of the cold first half shooting of the Vulcans (2-2, 0-1) and held off the visitors from Hilo's late run for the win in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
 
"We rebounded well and followed the game plan to pound the ball inside," said HPU head coach Darren Vorderbruegge. "We turned the ball over way too many times, but we kept control of the tempo and the game. Great win."
 
Senior forward Jonathan Janssen, the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year from Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain Creek, double-doubled in leading the Sharks, with game-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds with a block and a steal. Junior forward Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove powering in 15 points and seven boards with a steal and block. Senior forward Spencer Vering of San Diego/Mater Dei and sophomore guard David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark each scored nine points.
 
UH Hilo was led by Larry Bush with 15 points, with James Griffin, Kaleb Gilmore and Kupaa Harrison each added 11 points. Griffin led the Vulcans in board work with seven rebounds.
 
The Sharks shot 57 percent from the floor (26-of-46), but hit just 2-of-5 from the 3-point arc. HPU made 20-of-31 free throws (65 percent).
 
The Vulcans, who made only five field goals in the first half and shot 18 percent, finished the game 22-of-64 (34 percent). UHH connected on 9-of-31 (29 percent) from the arc and made 7-of-15 shots at the foul line (47 percent).
 
HPU crushed the Vulcans on the glass, outrebounding UHH 46-34. The Sharks kept the Vulcans in the game with their 22 turnovers to UHH's 11.
 
The Sharks fired on all cylinders to open the game, with Blain's opening jumper keying a 10-0 run that was capped with a tip-in put back from Vering for the run that caused a timeout from UH Hilo at the 15:56 mark. The Vulcans followed with 3's from Bush and Harrison to close the gap to 10-6 with 14:49 to go, but that was as close as the Vulcans got. HPU answered with a 5-0 run to push the lead to nine.
 
As the Vulcans woeful shooting continued in the opening 20 minutes, the Sharks got an 11-0 run going, then eventually extended the lead to 22 on a jumper from junior forward Daniel Melifonwu of San Diego/Lincoln. UHH trimmed the lead to 36-16 at the half on a layup from Harrison with eight seconds to play before intermission.
 
A Janssen 3-pointer opened HPU's scoring in the second half as the Sharks regained a 22-point advantage, but the Vulcans weren't going to roll over. Back-to-back layups and a 3-pointer from Bush started a 10-0 run by UH Hilo that was extended to 17-4 and cut the HPU lead to eight at 45-37 with 13:45 to play on Griffin's layup.
 
However, the next trip down the floor, Rowlands was fouled by Gilmore on a layup and the sophomore converted the traditional three-point-play to put HPU back up by 11.
 
The Vulcans pulled back within eight with 10:05 remaining on a steal and layup by Damani Whitlock, then the Sharks took control with a Bettis put-back to start a 5-0 run capped by a steal and dunk from sophomore Lorenze Gordon-Haynes. HPU kept a double-digit lead the rest of the way to win 74-60.
 
The Sharks return to the hardwood at Moanalua on Saturday to face Fresno Pacific in PacWest action. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m., following the Sharks and Sunbirds women's game.