Like they say in monster movies, you can’t kill them and they won’t go away. ADVERTISING Like they say in monster movies, you can’t kill them and they won’t go away. It’s a valid summary of the Hawaii-Hilo men’s basketball
Like they say in monster movies, you can’t kill them and they won’t go away.
It’s a valid summary of the Hawaii-Hilo men’s basketball team after an impassioned 83-68 victory over Point Loma Nazarene (8-10 in the Pacific west Conference, 13-12 overall), behind an historic triple double by senior Nate Walker who finished 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Somehow, this team that started the season 0-9 and 0-5 in conference play, still has a chance to sneak into the playoffs in a complicated knot of six teams that could advance into the final spot. None of it will happen if the Vulcans (9-10, 9-14 overall) can’t beat defending champion Azusa-Pacific Saturday night following the women’s game that will start at 5 p.m.
For the moment, this was a special night at The Civic.
According to the UHH sports information department, Walker recorded the first triple double for a men’s basketball player in school history.
“That’s interesting,” said Walker, “because it’s my first triple-double, too. It was all because of my teammates, obviously, I got the ball in great spots, I was in position to grab rebounds here and there and my teammates got one for me.
“I didn’t realize I was close to it,” he said, “until somebody told me in the last couple minutes that I needed another assist. I told (Ryan) Reyes, because we just had a give-and-go that worked, I said, ‘Do it again, do the give-and-go.’”
It worked. Reyes finished with 15 points 7-of-7 from the floor in what he called, “definitely,” his best game of the season.
“Tonight, once again, everybody bought in and we had a great flow, now it’s a matter of getting another win and seeing what happens,” he said.”
It took a while for the Vulcans to warm to the task, but they got there by the end of the first half when they took a 29-28 lead into the locker room after Jordan Russell converted a long, running shot from a few steps over the half court line that swished the net as the clock turned to zero.
Until that point, the Sea Lions had the lead throughout the half thanks to a red hot shooting hand by freshman guard Josh Rodriguez, who had 17 points in the first 20 minutes on 7-of-9 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from beyond the 3-point line.
Van Lockett gave Hilo some life with a 3-pointer that made it 25-19 with 4:43 left at which point the Vulcans began to take over, going on an 10-3 run on five points by Ryan Reyes, working hard inside, and five by Russell who had a deep 3 to go with his buzzer beater.
In the second half, Hilo dominated the Sea Lions after Point Loma closed it to 47-42. From that point, the Vulcans went on a 17-2 run, led by Walker and Randan Berinobis who each had six in the streak. They took a 64-47 lead and the rest of the way was just a matter of whether walker would get his triple double.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this group,” said coach GE Coleman. “I’ve been with teams that went further than this, had more wins and all that, but to start 0-9 and to be where we are right now with a seven-man rotation? It’s really something to be proud of, this is a great group of kids that knows how to work together and play together.”
It shows. Nine wins is the most by a Hilo team in the PWC since 2005.
“I don’t think we’ve hit our ceiling yet,” Coleman said, “I think we have a little more to go. I can’t say if it will be enough but I know they will give everything they have.”
