COSTA MESA – Trailing by 17 points with just over seven minutes remaining in the game, the Vanguard men's basketball team unleashed a frenetic finish for the ages, outscoring Hawaii Pacific 32-15 to force overtime. The Lions overcame a rough outing at the free throw line to hold on for the 91-89 victory at the Freed Center on Saturday.

Vanguard has now won three straight games by a combined total of seven points.

Aibigho Ujadughele came to the rescue in VU's first home game in 28 days. The junior guard notched a career-high 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting while playing 31 minutes off the bench. He obliterated his previous career-best of seven points set on November 16 against San Francisco State. Ujadughele also corralled eight rebounds and made four steals, including two key strips down the stretch. 

Leonard Turner – a Cal State San Bernardino transfer like Ujadughele – also set career-highs with 24 points and five three-pointers. He hit 8 of 15 floor shots and contributed six rebounds, a block and two steals.

Senior Jackson Larsen posted 15 points and a career-best 13 rebounds, while fellow senior Anthony Tello produced 12 points.

The fifth Lion in double figures was Bryson Metz, who collected six of his 10 points with two crucial three-pointers in the waning minutes of regulation.

VU overcame 46.7 (14 of 30) percent free throw shooting and won despite getting out-rebounded 55-38.

However, the Lions outshot the Sharks from distance, hitting on 40.7 (11 of 27) percent and limiting the visitors to 25.0 (7 of 28) percent. VU also harassed HPU into 21 turnovers – four during the final three-plus minutes of regulation – and turned those miscues into 23 points. The Lions held a huge 23-6 advantage in points off turnovers. That was due in large part to committing just eight turnovers themselves, the second-fewest in a game this season.

VU improved to 11-4 on the season and 5-4 in PacWest play. Hawaii Pacific, who was led by Pavle Kuzmanovic with 24 points and 10 rebounds, fell to 8-9 and 3-4 in conference action.

What Happened?: Neither team trailed by double digits through the first 30 minutes of action, but the Sharks made the first significant push of the contest when Joshua West made a layup at the 10:28 mark. That bucket gave HPU a 55-51 lead and started a 15-0 run over a three-minute stretch. 

The Lions went four minutes without a field goal until Ujadughele ended the drought with a layup at the 7:18 mark. He drew the foul on the play and converted the free throw to bring VU within 68-54.

Ujadughele went on a heater from there, scoring 14 of VU's next 20 points to pull the Blue and Gold within 77-71 with 3:20 remaining. The trapping Lions increased their defensive intensity as steals from Micah Swartz and Ujadughele led to back-to-back layups from Tello, filling the Freed with energy and chopping the deficit to 77-75.

The Sharks scored the next three points on free throws to push the lead back to five, but Turner got to the line to sink a pair. Tucker Pellicci drew a foul on HPU's next possession to create an 81-77 HPU advantage.

Tello fouled out with 2:17 remaining and was replaced by Metz, who hit two impactful shots to keep the Lions alive. He buried a three with 1:13 on the clock to trim VU's deficit to 81-80. HPU's Charlie Weber was fouled with 15 ticks left and converted both free throws to give his side a three-point lead.

The Lions were patient in seeking the game-tying basket and found Metz on the right side. His triple from the right corner swished through with just four seconds left, and Avi Halpert's desperation heave was awry as the teams headed to overtime.

Turner opened the extra period with a triple and Chris Chiles followed with a layup as the Lions opened up an 88-83 lead. Pellicci and Larsen traded baskets to keep VU in front by five. Pellicci scored again with 1:15 remaining and a pair of Kuzmanovic free throws narrowed VU's lead to one.

VU missed six free throw attempts in the overtime period, but Turner hit one of two with 14 seconds remaining to increase the Lion lead to 91-89.

Halpert missed two three-point attempts over the final seven seconds that would have handed HPU the win, but the Lions managed to survive.

What Was Said?: "That was one of the craziest finishes I've been a part of in my 15 years at Vanguard," said Head Coach Rhett Soliday. "Hawaii Pacific came into our house and took control of the game in the second half. I credit them for making us pay every time we made a defensive mistake. But, our guys didn't quit, and they really rallied with and for each other to claw back into the game.

We had some electric plays made on defense that led to some offensive outbursts. Boogie was phenomenal giving us the spark we needed to believe we could come back from down 17. We really struggled at the line tonight, but forcing 12 turnovers in the second half ignited the group to hang in there. Bryson did what he does, hitting the game-tying three and another huge one to give us a chance. It was a great overall team win."

What's Next?: The Lions return to the Freed Center on Martin Luther King Day, hosting Hawaii Hilo on Monday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m.