The UH-Hilo men’s and women’s basketball teams played a home double-header against Westmont on Monday night at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The Vulcans’ men’s team won 71-57, but the women’s team suffered a 68-58 loss.
The Vulcans will be back in action at 5p.m. and 7 p.m. tonight taking on Fresno Pacific in another double-header.
The annual Big Island Holiday Classic will return Dec. 15-19, at Civic. UH-Hilo will take on Angelo State (Dec. 16) and Bridgewater State (Dec. 17). More information is available at HiloAthletics.com/BIC.
Men’s team
Sometimes it’s not the destination, but the journey along the way, and on Monday night, the UH-Hilo Men’s Basketball team had its cake and ate it too with an explosive victory.
After trailing with a short leash for much of the opening half, the Vulcans exploded for a 23-5 scoring run starting at the 4:24 mark of the first half and continuing all the way through the first five minutes of play in the second half.
During that span, the Vulcans went 10 of 14 from the field while the Warriors made just two baskets in 12 attempts — seven of those were from beyond the arc.
A subsequent Westmont 3-pointer briefly dropped the Vulcans’ lead to nine points, but Nadjrick Peat closed out his electrifying showcase of offense with his fourth dunk of the evening to up the lead back to double digits as UH-Hilo continued to stack the points and the lead all the way through to victory.
The Vulcans posted their highest shooting percentage of the season (.534) as Carlos Ramsey Jr. led with 17 points. Peat had his first double-double of the season with 13 points (6-7 FG) and 10 rebounds.
Kalique Mitchell also totaled double-digit scoring figures with 15 points on seven boards and three steals.
UH-Hilo moved to a 2-0 PacWest record (6-2 overall) while Westmont moved to 1-2 in the conference (4-5 overall).
Women’s team
An 8-0 Warriors run midway through the second quarter provided all the cushion necessary as the UH-Hilo Women’s Basketball team dropped its Pacific West Conference season opener to newcomer Westmont.
The end of the first period saw the Vulcans hold a one-point lead, but the Warriors came out in the second quarter to outscore UH-Hilo, 9-2, before going on their 8-0 run a few minutes later to make it a 31-19 score.
The Vulcans got six quick points before the end of the half to make it an eight-point deficit once again, but the Warriors managed to maintain their advantage the rest of the way.
The Vulcans had the lowest number of turnovers this season with 14 while forcing the Warriors to commit a season-high 24. Still, UH-Hilo made just two shots from beyond the arc after 18 total attempts.
Kamalu Kamakawiwoole led the Vulcans with 17 points as Kaile Cruz followed with 15.
UH-Hilo moved to an 0-1 PacWest record (2-3 overall) while Westmont moved to 2-1 in the conference (5-4 overall).