Step 1 in the UH-Hilo men’s basketball team’s topsy-turvy bid to reach the Pacific West Conference tournament for the first time was straightforward enough: win.
Check.
Step 2: root against Academy of Art.
Check back Thursday on that one.
It’s become evident that nothing will come easy for the Vulcans this season, but Wednesday night they took care of their first order of business, thank you very much, finally putting away one-win Notre Dame de Namur 68-59 at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
“You take a win any way we can get it,” coach GE Coleman said. “They’ve played some teams tough. We knew it was going to be a battle.
“We found a way, though it wasn’t very pretty.”
The Vulcans (12-13, 10-11 Pacific West Conference) moved a half-game behind Academy of Art (10-10 PacWest) for the final spot in the conference tournament, and now it’s the Urban Knights’ turn to feel a little pressure. Academy-Art, which would lose a head-to-head tiebreaker against UHH, heads to the road to face Azusa Pacific on Thursday and Biola on Saturday.
When the Vulcans take the court Saturday against Chaminade – which scored 114 on UHH earlier this season in Honolulu — for senior day, they could already have clinched a postseason berth (if Academy of Art loses twice), they could be eliminated (if the Urban Knights sweep a pair), or everything could still be hanging in the air.
“We can’t count on (the Urban Knights) to lose twice,” Coleman said. “We can only control what we can do. We’ll try to go out and play well against one of the best teams in the PacWest.”
As for Tuesday night, a win is a win is a win.
With their backs against the proverbial wall, the Vuls survived on balanced scoring, but a gold star should probably go to junior point guard Jordan Graves, a marathon man on this night who scored 10 points with 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals in 40 minutes on the court.
Larry Bush led the way with 15 points, including three baskets and two free throws in the final eight minutes to help the Vuls pull away. Guarding only a one-point lead with 6:39 remaining, two baskets apiece by Cleo Cain (12 points) and Bush and two free throws by James Griffin (10 points, seven rebounds) fueled a 10-2 run.
Kupaa Harrison added 12 points.
Anthony Suber led all scorers with 17 points for Notre Dame de Namur (1-25, 1-19), which cooled down after hitting 12 of 23 from the floor in the first half. Chazz Wade hit three 3-pointers and added 15 points.
Jalen Thompson’s 3-pointer gave the Vuls a nine-point lead with 7:02 remaining in the first half, but the Argonauts responded with a 10-2 run before Bush’s steal and slam gave UHH a 32-29 lead at halftime.
• Women, Academy of Art 59, UHH 46
Allie Navarette came through with another double-double, but the Vulcans shot just 28 percent, including 0 of 10 from 3-point range in the second half in tying for their second-lowest scoring output of the season.
Konawaena alum Lindsey Bates, a guard, enjoyed a fine all-around game for the Argonauts (8-16, 7-13), winners of four in a row, with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Sara Shimizu scored 13 points, and though Navarette struggled from the field, the sophomore scored 12 points with 13 rebounds
UHH golfers improve
The UH-Hilo men’s golf team finished ninth, a climb of four spots, at the Bay Area Invite on Tuesday in San Francisco, hosted by Academy of Art.
Senior Jared Kinoshita finished with a 3-over 77-71-71 tota to place 13th in the field. Warren Miller was next at 11-over 77-75-75, followed by Taylor Patrick (74-76-80), Evan Merrier (78-81-72), and Andrew Otani (76-77-80).
No. 3 Western Washington won the team title, 13 shots ahead of 11-over Sonoma State and 12-over Concordia (Ore.).
Sonoma State’s Devin Gregg won medalist honors with a 6-under finish.