HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University opened up a 23-point lead, then fought off a comeback attempt as the Sharks beat Hawai'i Hilo 88-75 on Tuesday night in PacWest Conference action at Moanalua High School Gym.
 
The Sharks (12-10, 7-7) closed the homestand with their third win in four games, while the Vulcans (6-14, 5-8) had a two-game win streak snapped.
 
"It was great to see us jump out to a big lead," said HPU head coach Darren Vorderbruegge. "We had a lull that allowed Hilo to make a comeback, but we kept control to get a much needed win."
 
Senior forward Niksha Federico of San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic, led the Sharks with his PacWest leading 13th double-double of the season, scoring 23 points with 13 rebounds to go with three assists, a block and a steal. Junior forward Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain Creek, added 16 points with seven boards and three steals, as junior guard Darnell Bettis of Los Angeles/University and freshman guard Tavon Tarpley of McLean, Va./Langley, both tallied 11 points. Bettis also had five rebounds and four assist.
 
The Vulcans Randan Berinobis played lights out, leading all scorers with 31 points to go with nine rebounds. Devin Johnson added 19 points and nine boards, while Maikai Gahan came off the bench with 12 points.
 
HPU hit 50 percent from the floor (28-of-56), including 12-of-23 (52 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks hit 77 percent (20-of-26) from the free throw line. The Vulcans were held to 39.7 percent from the field (27-of-68), with 9-of-22 shooting from the arc (41 percent). UHH made 12-of-16 (75 percent) from the foul line. HPU edged UHH 38-36 on the boards, and turned the ball over 13 times to the Vulcans 11.
 
UH Hilo used a 7-2 run early to take a 7-4 lead before a layup from junior forward Spencer Vering from San Diego/Mater Dei Catholic started the Shark barrage. A tipin by Tarpley put the Sharks in front for good and started a 12-0 run. UHH added a Johnson layup, then HPU reeled off a 7-0 run to go up by 14.
 
HPU continued to push the lead and when Federico and freshman guard Emil Isovic of Kristianstad, Sweden buried back-to-back 3-pointers with three minutes left in the half, the Sharks held a 23-point 42-19 lead. The Vulcans responded with a 10-2 run to send the game to halftime with HPU up 44-29.
 
The Sharks returned the lead to 17 points midway through the half when the Vulcans made a charge.
 
Gahan came off the bench with a 3-ball at the 13:35 mark and started a 10-0 run that sliced the HPU lead to seven at 62-55 with 11:29 to go on a layup from Will Burghardt.
 
HPU came back with Federico getting fouled on a 3-point shot and he calmly nailed all three free throws and the Sharks went back up by double-digits. The Sharks allowed UHH to get back within nine with 1:08 left on a Berinobis 3-pointer, but redshirt freshman David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark, hit all four free throws down the stretch to give HPU the 88-75 win in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge affair.
 
HPU ends a four-game homestand with the victory and travels to the mainland for a four-game road trip that starts on Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. HST (4:30 p.m. PST) contest at Fresno Pacific.