HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University witnessed a 16-2 first half run that gave Hawai'i Hilo a lead they never relinquished as UH Hilo defeated HPU 71-62 in PacWest Conference play on Sunday afternoon at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (0-4, 0-4) held an early lead against the Vulcans (5-1, 5-1) before the run midway through the first half that put HPU behind the eight-ball.
 
UH Hilo built a 19-point lead in the second half, only to have the Sharks rally late and cut the lead to seven with three minutes to play before claiming the nine-point victory.
 
HPU was led by sophomore Lachlan Viney of Melbourne, Australia/Mazenod, who posted a career-high 23 points including three 3-pointers. Senior David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark, tallied 13 points with five assists. Senior Tavon Tarpley of McLean, Va./Langley led the Sharks with nine rebounds.
 
UH Hilo got a pair of double-doubles from Sasa Vuksanovic and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones. Vuksanovich recorded 20 points with 11 rebounds, as Tait-Jones chipped in 16 points with 10 boards. Darren Williams added 14 points.
 
HPU shot 38 percent (24-of-63) from the field, and hit 7-of-25 (28 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks converted only 7-of-15 (47 percent) from the foul line. UHH made 27-of-57 (47 percent) from the floor, including 6-of-16 (38 percent) from the arc. The Vulcans made 11-of-20 (55 percent) from the charity stripe. The Vulcans outrebounded HPU 42-37. The turnovers were even at 13 apiece, but UHH collected 22 points off the turnovers to the Sharks seven.
 
HPU jumped out to an early lead thanks to Viney who scored the first five points for the Sharks, a lead HPU held for the first four minutes of the contest. A 3-pointer from Jalen Thompson gave UH Hilo a lead at the 16 minute mark, but a Viney layup tied the score at 10-all with 15:34 remaining the in the half.
 
That's when the Vulcans followed with a Vuksanovic layup that keyed the 16-2 run to go up for the rest of the game. UH Hilo took a 37-23 lead into halftime.
 
In the second half, the Vulcans expanded their lead to 19-points at 44-25 with 16:10 to play, and carried a 14-point advantage with 6:48 remaining. Sophomore Colton Martin of Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound hit a 3-pointer from the right side and Viney followed with another triple to cut the lead to eight at 58-50 with 5:05 left. The teams traded scores with HPU adding a Martin followup to slice the lead to seven with 3:29 to go. But that was a close as the Sharks could get before falling 71-62.
 
The Sharks are back in action on Tuesday evening to face cross-town rival Chaminade at The Shark Tank in a rescheduled game from the postponed contest of Jan. 23. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.