HILO, Hawai'i— Dominican men's basketball and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo went down to the wire in a tightly contested PacWest matchup, but the Penguins fell short in the final minutes, allowing the Vulcans to slip away with a 68-64 victory at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Jordan Williams,
Jaelen Ragsdale and
Lazar Djurovic each showcased double digit offensive performances Thursday night. Williams led all scorers with 20 points while shooting 10-for-18 from the field, picking up six steals, three rebounds, and two assists. Ragsdale knocked down three three-pointers on his way to recording 19 points, three assists, three rebounds and a steal. Djurovic had 12 points, two assists and one rebound.
The University of Hawai'i at Hilo (6-5, 4-4 PacWest) was led by Kupaa Harrison, recording 19 points, 7 rebounds, two assists and one steal. Sasa Vuksanovic finished the night with 12 points, five rebounds and one assist in the victory.
The Penguins (2-11, 2-5 PacWest) and Vulcans opened regulation by trading buckets until Dominican went on a 10-3 run to reach a 6-point lead with the score of 15-9 as Djurovic sank a three pointer from the top of the arc with 11:32 left to go in the half. UHH fought to quickly erase the deficit, as Kaleb Gilmore made a pair of threes to tie the game at 23 a piece with 5:11 on the clock.
Throughout the last four minutes of the first half, Williams caught fire and went on to account for Dominican's final 6 of 8 points, keeping the penguins in the hunt while the two squads traded baskets heading into the break with the score of 31-31.
Coming out of the locker room, the Vulcans took a 3-point lead with a couple quick baskets from Harrison and Damani Whitlock. Ragsdale generated a spark of energy for the Penguins, hitting three three-pointers in a row to take back the 46-41 advantage.
Once again, UHH erased the deficit by going on a 9-2 run, capped off with a three pointer from Whitlock to take a 50-48 lead over the Penguins with 9:35 left in the second half. The Vulcans sustained the slim advantage over Dominican going into the final three minutes of regulation.
Romeo Mays tipped in a missed layup from Djurovic to help Dominican come within one of the Vulcans at 59-58, but Harrison helped UHH extend their lead back to 61-58 with 1:34 left to go in regulation with a jump shot from the elbow. The Penguins managed to make it a two-point game with 25 seconds left on the clock after a quick steal and lay-up from Williams, but that would be as close as the Penguins would come to taking back the lead in the final seconds.
Dominican continues its road trip this Saturday against Hawai'i Pacific University. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. HST and live video and stats will be available online.
