Hawaii Pacific men’s basketball team wins on last-second shot

The Hawaii Pacific men’s basketball team needed all 40 minutes to take down Alaska, scoring on a last-second basket to claim a 65-63 victory over the Nanooks in the GNAC-PacWest Challenge at the Saint Louis Clarence T.C. Ching Center on Sunday.

HPU (1-1) watched Alaska (0-2) tie the game at 63-all on a made free throw with just 34 sceonds left to play. Redshirt freshman Jackson Young then collected a rebound on a Sharks missed basket, before scoring on a layup in the paint to put HPU up 65-63 with 0.4 seconds on the clock.

Young and teammate Roman Young each scored 11 points to lead the Sharks. Senior Rodney Hounshell added 10 points.

Trailing 63-58 with 3:30 remaining, Alaska fought back with a 5-0 run that culminated in Abdullahi Mohamed’s free throw line appearance with the game on the line. Mohamed made the first to tie the game, but missed the go-ahead attempt to set up Young’s game-winner. Alaska couldn’t get a shot off in time in the final 0.4 seconds.

Hawaii Pacific will make its home debut next week at the Shark Tank, hosting Northwest Indian College on Friday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

UH Hilo stays perfect with win over Simpson

The Hawaii Hilo men’s basketball team prevailed once again on their fifth straight day with a game scheduled, taking down Simpson (Calif.) 87-71 at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The Vulcans (3-0) continue to win when it counts, staying perfect in regular season play after dropping a pair of exhibitions on the first two days of the stretch. The Red Hawks (2-3) lost to Hawaii Hilo for the second time this season, falling 89-72 in the Vulcans’ home opener on Friday.

With 26 points from Darren Williams and 24 more from Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Hawaii Hilo rolled to a win having trailed just once, 13-11 at the 11:40 mark. A 9-0 Vulcan run then gave UH Hilo the lead for good.

Hawaii Hilo shot 86% from the free throw line, while outrebounding Simpson 45-35. The Vulcans held the Red Hawks to 35% shooting to claim the win, despite committing 19 turnovers to the Red Hawks’ 17.

The Vulcans will enjoy a short one-day break before returning to the court on Tuesday, hosting Alaska Anchorage at 7 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium.