HILO, Hawai'i – The Hawai'i Pacific University men ended the 2017-18 season on a high note by beating Big Island rival Hawai'i Hilo 97-87 PacWest Conference action Saturday night at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
 
The Sharks (15-13, 10-10) overcame a six-point second half deficit to the Vulcans (7-20, 6-14) before surging the win in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge contest. The game ended the season for both teams.
 
Senior forward Niksha Federico of San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic, led the Sharks with 26 points, but just missed an 18th double-double of the season with nine rebounds. Junior forward Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain State scored 18 points with eight rebounds and two steals. Redshirt freshman guard Lorenz Gordon-Haynes of Houston, Texas/Jones posted 13 points, while junior guard Darnell Bettis of Los Angeles, Calif./University 10 points with eight boards and five assists.
 
UH Hilo was paced by Randan Berinobis with 30 points and 12 rebounds, with the trio of Eric Wattree III, Ryley Callaghan and Devin Johnson each adding 14 points. Johnson contributed seven rebounds, while Callaghan posted six assists.
 
HPU shot 52 percent from the floor (30-of-58), including 8-of-19 from the 3-point arc (42 percent). The Sharks hit 29-of-37 (78 percent) from the free throw line. UH Hilo hit 40 percent from the field (29-of-72), that included 15-of-43 (35 percent) from the arc. The Vulcans made 14-of-19 (73 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
The first half featured five ties and five lead changes as the Vulcans carried a four-point 46-42 lead into halftime.
 
The Vulcans retook a six-point lead on a Berinobis layup to start the second half, but the Sharks answered with a pair of Janssen layup to start and 11-2 run that put HPU up by three on a Gordon-Haynes layup five minutes into the second half. The Sharks never trailed again.
 
Johnson threw down a dunk for the Vulcans to pull within one, then HPU followed with 3-pointers from freshman guard Emil Isovic from Kristianstad, Sweden and Federico to jump out to a seven-point advantage.
 
The Sharks went up by 12 the first time on a Federico jumper, but the Vulcans would answer each of the six time HPU hit the 12-point mark.
 
UHH closed to within eight points with 1:14 to play, but free throws put the Sharks back out in front. HPU pushed the lead out to 13 in the final minutes on Janssen free throws before a 3-pointer with six seconds left by Maikai Gahan pulled UHH back to the final of 97-87.