The University of Hawai’i at Hilo dominated in basketball with both the men’s and women’s teams defeating the Academy of Art Urban Knights.
The men’s basketball team topped Academy of Art 75-72 in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. This will stretch UH Hilo’s winning streak to three games (9-4, and 5-1 PacWest Conference) while ART U will drop 9-6 and 5-2 in the PacWest. Prior to this game Academy of Art held the first place slot in the PacWest standings, with UH Hilo nipping at their heels by one game in second place. The Vulcans will now take the first place standing, while ART U falls to third- currently tied with Biola.
The Urban Knights led the first half until the last three minutes where UH Hilo took the lead off a bucket by Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (24-23). Tait-Jones saw an opening and drove into the paint with 2:39 remaining until halftime. The Vulcan offense then pressed on the gas widening to as much as an 11-point lead before entering halftime. Six of those 11 points were two treys by freshman Donald McHenry.
The Vulcans held their lead in the final frame until the last 11 minutes of regulation where ART U’s Deang Deang had a layup that brought the score to, 54-53. A layup by Tait-Jones gave the Vulcans the game-winning lead with 56 second left on the clock that they held until their eventual 75-72 win.
Scoring Leaders… Tait-Jones led the Vulcans in scoring with 22 points followed by McHenry with 15 and Jamie Strong with 12.
Fast Hands… The Vulcans totaled seven steals by McHenry (2), Darren Williams (2), Tait-Jones (1), Strong (1) and Ethan Jetter (1).
Double-Double Machine… Tait-Jones collected his fourth double-double of the season, leading his team with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
The women’s basketball team beat the Urban Knights 66-58. This was the Vulcans first game in 25 days after six postponed games. They are now on a four-game winning streak, improving 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific West Conference while the Urban Knights fell 7-6 and 4-2 in the PacWest.
The Vulcans kept a dominant lead through the first three quarters, collecting their largest lead at 44-32 off a layup by Mindy Kawaha.
In the fourth quarter ART U tied the score up 50-50 with a little less than six minutes remaining in regulation. The Vulcans fought to hold the lead, but the Urban Knights’ Milan Tuttle hit a trey to take her team’s first lead of the game (53-52). Both teams went back and forth for points until they were tied on the scoreboard, once again now at 58-58. Mandi Kawaha then stole the ball from Academy of Art.and passed to Heaven Samayoa-Mathis who was able to get down the court and make a layup, giving her team the final lead (60-58). The Vulcans scored their remaining points off of six good free throws as the Urban Knights continued to foul them. Four of the final free throws were made by Samayoa-Mathis and the last two were sunk in by Mandi Kawaha.
Scoring Leaders…Mandi Kawaha led the Vulcans in scoring with 16 points followed closely by Samayoa-Mathis with 15. Samayoa-Mathis was also an impressive 6-for-6 at the free throw line and 1-for-1 behind the arc.
Board & Steal Leader…Mandi Kawaha also led UHH with eight rebounds and four steals.
