Vulcan’s Mens Hoop Team Upsets No. 1 Eagles

The University of Hawai‘i Hilo (UHH) men’s basketball team shot 60% in the second half, had five players in double figures and out-muscled a physical Concordia team for a 90-84 Pacific West Conference men’s basketball victory on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The upset win moved the Vulcans to 2-0 in conference play and 3-4 overall. The Eagles, who were on a five-game winning streak, dropped their first PacWest contest (2-1) and they are now 8-3 overall.

Concordia is ranked No. 1 with Cal Poly Pomona in the DII West Region poll released today by D2SIDA.

“That is right up there with one of the top couple of wins for our program since I have been here,” said Head Coach GE Coleman, now in his fifth season. “We played possession for possession with one of the most physical basketball teams that you will see.”

The victory moved the Vulcans into a tie for the early PacWest lead with Azusa Pacific, both at 2-0.

The Vulcans out-rebounded the Eagles 39-24 and they converted 17 of their 28 shots in the second half, including 4 of 9 from three-point range.

UHH had a lot of heroes on a big night, including Trey Ingram who had 24 points and four assists. The senior guard hit 11 of 12 free throw chances. Post Denhym Brooke had 18 points and 13 rebounds, missing only one shot from the field. And that is just the beginning of the list (see below).

The score was tied 11 times in the contest and the lead changed 10 times in front of a noisy crowd of 923 at the Civic.

The Eagles led in the first half, by as many as eight points thanks in part to sharp-shooting JT Roach, who had 14 points including 12 from three-point range. Down six points with two minutes to go, the Vulcans pulled to within two digits on Ingram’s long three at the buzzer to make it a 41-39 game at intermission.

The Vulcans took the lead early in the second half on a jumper by Ryley Callaghan. That margin would be short lived as the teams traded leads through most of the half. With 6:24 left, a Randan Berinobis three-pointer gave the Vulcans a 75-74 lead and then a Brooke dunk pushed the margin to three. With 4:29 minutes to go, Ingram hit a pair of free throws for a five-point margin (79-74).

Another Brooke basket moved the lead to seven points with 3:30 minutes to go, and the Eagles would get no closer than four points the rest of the way. Tight Vulcan defense and deadly free throw shooting by Ingram sealed the game against the co-conference leaders. Ingram hit two free throws with five seconds on the clock for the final six-point margin.

Devin Johnson nearly joined Brooke in the double-double category with 17 points and eight rebounds. The six foot seven inch forward was six-of-nine from the field. Callaghan was in double figures with 12 points and four assists, and Cameron Howell came off the bench to score 12 points, hitting five of seven shots. Berinobis had five points, five rebounds and four assists.

Roach led the Eagles with 20 points and Brian Chambers, the PacWest Player of the Week, added 16.

The Vulcans will next head to UH at Mānoa to take on the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. The game is an exhibition contest for the Vulcans, but does count for UHM.