Men’s college basketball: Vulcans pushed to the limit but finally solve Argonauts

It took a full 40 minutes, but the UH-Hilo men finally evened the score with Notre Dame de Namur on Monday night at Hilo Civic.

A persistent thorn in the foot for coach GE Coleman since he arrived on the Big Island three years ago, the Argonauts (2-15 in the Pacific West Conference, 3-21 overall), toughed out a 2-point overtime win in the Bay Area a couple weeks ago, the third time in as many opportunities that they found a way to beat the Vulcans, but it didn’t happen this time.

UH-Hilo had foul problems throughout the game, but took advantage of Salim Gloyd inside for a 31-point effort and Randan Berinobis lifted the squad with an energetic start and the Vulcans (7-10, 7-14), pulled out a a 74-64 win.

“In the Pac West, anytime you get a win, it’s a good night,” Coleman said. “We had our issues and these Monday games after a Saturday game are a little draining because of our short bench, but the guys did what they had to do.”

The Vulcans, as is usually the case, used seven players, which was one less than Notre Dame de Namur, which played with a short roster after coach George Puou sent four players home for “violations of team rules.”

That included his starting point guard and another starter, but the Argonauts hung close all the same.

“I told the guys I was proud of the way they battled,” Puou said. “We had one guy (6-foot-8 junior Brian Ying) who’s been injured with a bad ankle and this was his first game back, so we couldn’t expect too much from him, but we battled and I’m proud of that.”

Berinobis came out on fire and his early energy seemed to propel the Vulcans at the start. He had seven rebounds a couple assists in the first seven minutes when they jumped out 4-0 after Gloyd opened the scoring and Berinobis tossed in a 10-foot jumper. Gloyd had another hoop en route to 19 in the first half when Hilo took a 6-3 lead and that was as close as the undermanned Argonauts could get in the first 20 minutes.

But in the second half, NDNU kept hanging around and was able to take the lead at 59-57 before guard Van Lockett scored on a layup to tie it, then Gloyd made two free throws and then hit a 3-point basket for the lead at 64-59 and Hilo never looked back.

Parker Farris was in foul trouble for the Vulcans most of the second half.

“We made a little run at them when (Farris) was out,” said Puou, “because when he’s on the floor, he really stretches our defense out of shape, but when he’s on the bench we can play defense in better shape.”

For Berinobis, it was first double-double of the season. He had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“My role is to play defense, rebound and generate energy,” Berinobis said. “I love to bring the energy, that’s my game, that’s my role.”