HONOLULU – The Hawai'i Pacific University men ended the 2019-20 season on Saturday afternoon as Hawai'i Hilo took a 65-61 PacWest Conference win at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (10-18, 8-14) were tied with the Vulcans (12-14, 10-12) at 58-all with 2:08 to play only to have UH Hilo close on a 6-2 run for the win.
 
The Sharks were paced by senior Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove who led all scorers and rebounders with a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds to go with two blocked shots. Junior Tavon Tarpley of McLain, Va./Langley, scored seven points as the next highest scorer, while pulling down nine rebounds.
 
Kupaa Harrison and Elisha Duplechan scored 20 points for UH Hilo, with Harrison leading the team with seven rebounds. Jalen Thompson added nine points for the Vulcans.
 
HPU shot just 37 percent (22-of-59) from the field in the final contest of the year, hitting 6-of-25 (24 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks missed just one free throw, going 11-of-12 (92 percent) from the foul line. UHH hit 28-of-65 (43 percent) from the floor, with just 4-of-20 (20 percent) from the arc. The Vulcans made 5-of-8 (63 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU outrebounded the Vulcans 41-to-33, but suffered 15 turnovers to UH Hilo's nine.
 
Both teams held seven point leads during the contest that featured eight ties and seven lead changes.
 
The Sharks battled back from a four-point deficit in the final five minutes to tie the game at 57-all on a Blain layup with 2:53 remaining.
 
After a timeout, Harrison countered with a layup with 2:30 left for a 59-57 lead only to see the Sharks tie the game again 20 seconds later on a layup from senior Neema Namdar of Sandy, Utah/Alta to make it 59-59.
 
The Vulcans missed a shot by Harrison, who followed his own shot for the rebound and put-back to give UH Hilo the lead for good with 1:51 left. The Vulcans held and got an insurance score from Kaleb Gilmore for a four-point lead with 47 seconds remaining. HPU closed the gap to a buck on a layup by Blain with 34 seconds left. The Vulcans managed to run the clock down and got Harrison free for a layup with six seconds to go. HPU tried for to draw a foul when taking a final 3-point attempt, but didn't and the Vulcans escaped the Tank with a 65-61 win.
 
The contest closed the season for both teams, as neither earned an entry into the PacWest Conference Tournament next week. In addition to Blain and Namdar, the game was the final contest for senior Daniel Melifonwu of San Diego/Lincoln who finished with six points, five rebounds and a block.