HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University let a 3-point lead slip away in the final seven seconds as Holy Names rallied to snatch the PacWest Conference matchup from HPU 61-59 on Thursday night at the Moanalua High School Gym.
 
The Sharks (3-4, 1-3) dropped their third straight contest, while the Hawks (3-6, 2-2) won their second straight.
 
Holy Names' Andre Green buried a baseline corner 3- after pointer with 6.2 seconds remaining to tie the contest at 59. Then HNU collected an errant HPU pass and saw Alonzo Taylor fouled with 0.8 left. Taylor swished both free throws for the win.
 
"We didn't play very smart at the end of the game," said HPU head coach Darren Vorderbruegge. "I hope we can use it to learn from. You can't make mental and execution errors in the last 10 seconds in conference play and escape."
 
Junior Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove led HPU with 13 points to go with five rebounds. Senior Darnell Bettis of Los Angeles/University scored 12 points with six rebounds and four assists, while senior Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain Creek added 10 points with six boards.
 
Taylor came off the bench with 26 points for Holy Names, hitting 7-of-12 from the floor and 10-of-10 from the foul line. Kyvonte Davis picked up 14 points, while Green had nine with four rebounds. Bobby Kazar grabbed four rebounds as well without scoring.
 
HPU shot 45 percent from the field (21-of-47), and hit 5-of-10 (50 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks connected on 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the foul line. Holy Names made 22-of-52 from the floor (42 percent), with 6-of-23 (26 percent) from the arc. The Hawks were 11-of-13 (85 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU outrebounded HNU 34-25, but turned the ball over 17 times to the Hawks 13 times.
 
After opening the game with an early four-point lead, HPU saw the Hawks battle back for a 10-10 tie. Freshman Jacob Foy of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary put the Sharks up 13-10 with a 3-pointer with 7:38 remaining. But that's when Holy Names made its first move, stunning the Sharks with a 10-0 run and stretching the lead to nine on a Green layup inside of the last minute of the half. Janssen answered with a layup in the closing seconds of the half to send the Sharks to intermission down seven at 29-22.
 
The Hawks started the second half with two quick baskets to build an 11-point, 33-22 advantage.
 
HPU immediately rallied, with Janssen collecting three layups and Foy ripping a 3-pointer to pull within two and Bettis adding a layup to complete an 11-0 run to tie the game at 33-all with 12:33 to play.
 
After a Green layup up HNU back on top 35-33, the Sharks answered with a Vering trey and two free throws to take the lead. Taylor followed with a 3-pointer to knot the contest at 38 before Blain put HPU back up with a put-back to put the Sharks back on top.
 
Holding a two-point 46-44 advantage with 4:13 to play, the Sharks appeared to hit a winning stride going on a 7-0 run that included a Blain 3-pointer and layup for a 53-44 lead with 2:53 remaining.
 
HPU held a six-point lead with 1:19 to go when Taylor hit two free throws to start an 8-0 run that was capped by him adding three more free throws for a 56-55 lead with 57 seconds left.
 
But the Sharks were fouled on the next possession and Blain stepped up with both free throws to give HPU a 57-56 lead with 41 seconds left to play. Taylor attempted a 3-pointer and missed with Bettis getting the rebound and was fouled with exactly 16.0 seconds remaining. Bettis hit both free throws for a 59-56 lead.
 
But instead of fouling on the inbounds, HPU led the Hawks get the ball into play and Sanders found Green open in the corner. Green hit the triple with 6.2 on the clock to tie the game at 59.
 
Then disaster really struck. After getting the inbounds pass to Vering, the senior tried to lob it down floor and it was intercepted by Taylor who was fouled by Vering with 0.8 still on the clock. Taylor nailed both free throws for his 25th and 26th points of the game and gave HNU the win.
 
The Sharks now look forward to the Hoops In Hawai'i D2 Power Invitational, a three-day tournament starting on Sunday at the Hawai'i Convention Center. HPU meets Western Washington in the nightcap of the first day at 8 p.m. Sunday night.