The UH-Hilo men’s basketball team is learning to play without point guard Jordan Graves, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury.
His replacement Elisha Duplechan scored 18 points, collected nine rebounds and dished out five assists in an 82-73 victory over Fresno Pacific on Thursday night at Afook Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Kupaa Harrison scored 24 points, and the Vulcans shared the ball with 19 assists and shot a scorching 57 percent from the field. Sasa Vuksanovic added 13 points, and Jalen Thompson came off the bench for 12 points for the Vulcans (4-5, 2-3 PacWest).
Aamondae Coleman scored 17 points on 5 of 16 shooting, and A.J. Kirby and Nate Kendricks had 12 points each for the Sunbirds (3-9, 1-5), who shot 45 percent from the floor, including 7 of 25 from beyond the arc.
“We’re beginnings to learn how to play without Jordan,” UHH coach G.E. Coleman said. “Elisha stepped up. It was a group effort. We wanted to double team Coleman in the first half, but changed in the second half because they made five 3-pointers. He shot 5 of 16, and we’ll take that.”
Harrison shot 9 of 14 from the field, hitting 3 of 4 3-pointer and scoring in the creative ways: layups, under the basket and mid-range jump shots. Vuksanovic hit 6 of 10 from the field, scoring in the paint with his soft lefty touch.
“Kupaa played really well, and he continues to lead us,” Coleman said. “He and Sasa are a pretty good duo inside.”
Thompson drained 2 of 2 from beyond the arc but equally impressive was the ball-sharing. Vuksanovic and Damani Whitlock each added five assists.
Thompson provided a scoring boost off the bench for the Vuls with consecutive 3-pointers and a baseline jumpshot to push the Vuls ahead 61-56 with under seven minutes remaining.
Harrison gave the Vuls more breathing room when he scored off an assist from Vuksanovic and a play later scored on a transition layup, drew a foul and hit his free throw for a 66-56 cushion with 6:20 to go.
Then Duplechan went on a mini-scoring spree with six straight points to give the Vuls a 72-62 lead with 3:35 remaining.
The Vulcans opened the second half with a short, strong run, dumping the ball inside to the 6-foot-9 Vuksanovic, who easily scored over the 6-6 Coleman, and Duplechan missed a jumpshot but followed his shot and scored to cut the lead to 38-36.
Coleman buried a 3-pointer over the outstretched hand from Vuksanovic for a 43-38 lead with 16:15 remaining.
In the first half, the Vulcans had a tough time staying in front of the Sunbirds, who either fired 3-pointers, drove to the basket for layups or hit free throws and led 38-32 at halftime.
Despite often getting beat off the dribble, the Vuls were fortunate that the Sunbirds misfired from all their kickout 3-point shot attempts. They went just 5 of 16 from 3-point range.
UHH shot a scorching 52 percent (13 of 25) from the floor in the first half and was led by Harrison’s 10 points. The Vuls made 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.
The Vuls were able to contain Coleman, who entered the game scoring 18 points per game, to just six points in the first half on 2 of 5 shooting.
After Kaleb Gilmore scored under the basket, Coleman answered with 1 of 2 free throws and a putback for a 34-36 Fresno Pacific lead with under two minutes.
Kendricks followed with another layup for a 36-30 lead.
Greg Walter a jumpshot to cut the Sunbirds’ lead to 36-32, but Alex Ferguson answered for the Sunbirds with a putback for a 38-32 lead at the break.
The Vulcans next host Point Loma at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Civic.