HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University rolled early, but it was West Virginia State who returned the favor late and claimed a 76-74 victory on Friday night at the 2021 Hoops In Hawai'i Holiday Classic presented by the Ala Moana Hotel by Mantra.
 
In a contest that emphasized two entirely different halves, the Sharks (3-6) built a 19-point lead at halftime, only to have the Yellowjackets (6-5) flip the script in the second half to come out with the win.
 
The Sharks were led by junior Colton Martin of Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound with 13 points before fouling out. Sophomore Jakob Kimura of Honolulu/Punahou followed with 12 points, freshman Max Topham of Paragonah, Utah/Real Salt Lake Academy 11 points and sophomore Tucker Pellicci of Portland, Ore./Franklin 10 points. Junior Trey Chapman of Healdsburg, Calif./Healdsburg pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds.
 
WVSU got a game-high 24 points from Glen Abram, including 17 in the second half, in leading the Yellowjackets. Ernest Jenkins chalked up 19 points. WVSU just missed two double-doubles as Dwaine Jones posted 16 points and nine assists, and Anthony Pittman tallied nine points with 10 rebounds.
 
HPU shot 60 percent in the first half and 401 percent in the second to finish at 51 percent (29-of-57), including 9-of-24 (38 percent) from the 3-point arc. WVSU, who shot 32 percent in the first half, shot 50 percent in the second to record 26-of-64 (41 percent) from the floor, including 12-of-31 (39 percent) from the arc. HPU edged WVSU on the boards 38-34, but suffered 14 turnovers to the Yellowjackets nine.
 
The Sharks and Jackets swapped the lead six times with three times before Pellicci hit a jumper with 15:09 remaining to key a 13-2 run to take the lead by 10. After trading a few more scores, the Sharks went on another 13-2 run to claim their first 19-point lead with 5:13 in the half on a pair of Chapman free throws.
 
The Jackets trimmed the lead back before getting a Pellicci jumper and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from redshirt freshman Jackson Young of Kerrville, Texas/Tivy to take a 48-29 lead into halftime.
 
But in the second half, WVSU went on a 12-2 run to cut the Sharks lead to nine, then chipped away to pulling within two at 58-56 on a Jeremiah Moore putback with 11:02 to play.
 
The Sharks responded with back-to-back jumpers from Martin to regain a six point lead with nine minutes left.
 
HPU saw the lead slip a bit, but restored a five-point advantage with 3:27 to go on a Chapman layup. But WVSU's Abram hit a 3-pointer to pull within two before Kimura followed to put HPU back up by four with 2:49 remaining.
 
That's when the Yellowjackets got a 3-pointer from Jones and followed with two free throws with 1:43 to go to give WVSU the lead at 69-68 and keyed a 9-0 run to go up by five at 73-69 with a minute to go.
 
HPU came back with a 3-pointer from senior Domantas Sakickas of Lithuania and he added one of two free throws to pull within a point at 73-72 in the final 20 seconds. WVSU got two free throws and freshman Kordel Ng of Kaneohe, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama responded with a fastbreak in the final 10 seconds. Needing to foul HPU put the Jackets at the line again and Jones made 1-of-2 free throws to go up 76-74 with four seconds left. Despite the miss of the second shot, HPU couldn't get the ball down floor for a true attempt at the buzzer.
 
HPU completes the first semester's schedule on Saturday when the Sharks take on No. 11 Embry-Riddle in a 5:30 p.m. contest in the classic at The Shark Tank.