FRESNO, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University needed an extra five minutes to win their second straight contest, beating Fresno Pacific 82-76 in PacWest Conference action Tuesday afternoon at the FPU Special Events Center.
 
The Sharks (8-10, 6-6) got a game-tying 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in regulation to tie the Sunbirds (6-12, 4-8) at 67-all and force the game to overtime. In the overtime HPU used a 9-0 run to overcome a three-point deficit and never trailed again.
 
Junior David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark led the Sharks with 22 points, hitting 4-of-5 from the 3-point arc. Senior Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove double-doubled with 19 points and 13 rebounds to go with four assists and two steals. Freshman Lachlan Viney of Melbourne, Australia/Mazenod came off the bench with 11 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer that sent the contest to an extra five minutes.
 
Fresno Pacific, who played all eight players available, was led by Adrian Antunez with 29 points and three steals. Sean Nealon-Lino scored 15 points with six rebounds, while AJ Kirby posted eight points. Spencer Heimerdinger led FPU with eight rebounds with seven points and three assists.
 
HPU hit 44 percent (25-of-57) from the floor, including 10-of-27 (37 percent) from the arc. The Sharks converted 22-of-28 (79 percent) from the foul line. The Sunbirds shot 40 percent (24-of-60) from the field, with only 3-of-22 (14 percent) from the trey line. FPU made 25-of-36 (69 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU outrebounded FPU 35-31, but turned the ball over 17 times to the Sunbirds 14 giveaways.
 
The contest was a wild ride with 13 lead changes and eight ties in the 45 minutes of action.
 
Fresno Pacific opened the game on a 6-0 run and stretched its lead to seven at 13-6 on a free throw by Raine McKeython with 13:35 to play. It would be the Sunbirds largest lead in the game. After taking a timeout following the free throw, HPU answered with a layup from Blain that started an 8-0 run for the first Shark lead of the contest. After a layup by FPU, HPU went on another 7-0 run for a six-point 21-15 lead with 7:48 remaining in the half on a layup from junior Tavon Tarpley of McLean, Va./Langley. The six-point advantage was the first time the Sharks held their largest lead.
 
The Sunbirds chipped back to regain the lead on a 3 from Heimerdinger with 31 seconds remaining in the half, only to have Blain answer with a corner triple with eight seconds left to put HPU up 34-32 at intermission.
 
The Sharks stayed in front in the opening part of the second half, picking up five-point advantages, only to have the Sunbirds return the favor and go back up by three. Then HPU got two free throws from Blain and a layup from Rowlands to go on a 9-2 run for a four-point lead on a Rowlands trey with 7:49 left. HPU was up 64-59 on a triple from senior Neema Namdar of Sandy, Utah/Alta with 4:29 remaining but that would be the last HPU score until Viney's heroics. The Sunbirds got a layup from Antunez to start a 9-0 run and a 3-point lead with 43 seconds left. Both teams missed free throws, but Blain got a steal and fed Viney who swished the tying triple with 22 seconds remaining in regulation. Neither team got a shot away in the final seconds of the half sending the game to overtime at 67-all.
 
In the extra period, FPU scored a layup from Heimerdinger and a free throw from Nealon-Lino to lead 70-67 with 4:03 left. HPU was fouled twice in the next 30 seconds, with freshman Trey Chapman of Healdsburg, Calif./Healdsburg hitting two of the four free throws. However Chapman's last foul shot was rebounded by Blain who followed it in with a layup to take a 71-70 lead.
 
The Shark defense held the next trip down, Chapman got the boards and got the ball into Rowlands hands. "D-Row" buried a right elbow 3-pointer with 2:52 to play, then Viney was fouled a minute later and made both free throws to cap a 9-0 run with 1:05 left.
 
Antunez got a jumper and Jonathan Brown made a pair of free throws in the final minute for the Sunbirds, but HPU was perfect from the line down the stretch. Tarpley hit two free throws and Rowlands made all four of his to insure the Sharks victory 82-76.
 
The Sharks claimed both games of the short two-stop road trip and now return to Honolulu for a three-game homestand to close January. HPU hosts Holy Names on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at The Shark Tank.