HONOLULU, Hawaii – A blistering 45.2% from deep from Hawaii Pacific (9-4, 5-3) was too much for the Vanguard Lions (8-6, 4-4), as the Blue and Gold dropped another close contest by a score of 80-76.
Erik Howlin was once again setting the pace for VU, with a second consecutive 23 point outing, only with a higher efficiency this time around (10-15 FG, 3-4 3PT).
Graduate player in Aibigho Ujadughele had his highest scoring output in almost a month with his 11 points, while Dylan Swillis' 10 points off the bench helped Vanguard outproduce HPU's bench, 35-17.
As a unit, the Lions had their most made triples (11) since January 25, 2025 at Fresno Pacific, with their 39.3% mark tonight being their fourth-best clip on the season. Vanguard also had the edge in the turnover battle (15-10) while edging it out in the second chance points department (23-10).
The 6th and 7th best scorers in the Conference in Joshua West and Quentin Meza, respectively, paced HPU again, with 19 points (5-7 3PT) for West and 16 points for Meza.
What Happened?:
The game early had a bit of a feeling out stanza between the two sides, with neither team making a major grasp at momentum. With each side only mustering up one successful three-pointer in the first four minutes, Kailen Rains had a strong rack to the basket to break the ice, giving VU a 5-3 lead. That was shortlived, however, as West knocked down a triple just a few seconds later.
Both teams went to their bench coming out of the first media, and that is where Vanguard started to make some headway on the team that upset Division-I Boise State in early November. It was Tony Colley's trey upon checking in that kickstarted it, before some old-fashioned bruiser-ball by Sammy Howlin got him to the free-throw line. VU would play with a small lead for the next seven-plus minutes.
However, the tide changed at the 7:20 mark when HPU started highlighting matchups and got busy from deep, as 12 of their next 13 points came from distance over the next three minutes to give the hosts a 31-26 lead. Carson Frawley and Erik Howlin helped steady the ship, however as they helped make it 37-all going into the break.
The Sharks began to bite down on the game over the first seven minutes of the second-half, as an extended 13-4 run gave HPU a nine-point lead. Vanguard turned to Tony Colley to get back on track, and his second longball of the humid Honolulu night gave the offense a jolt. Then, it was back to Sammy Howlin, whose and-one forced a quartet of HPU substitutions to try to regain control. They did just that.
Hawaii Pacific's resolute offense built on continuous motion and screening off-ball caused the Lions fits, and the lead soon billowed to 11 after another wide-open Joshua West triple due to miscommunication in coverage.
The game would stay in that nine-to-eleven range from the 9:13 mark until the 4:31 timestamp when Dylan Swillis began to put the pressure on the rim again. A layup from the Pasadena City-transfer and a couple of made free-throws brought the game back to within five with 3:44 to play.
The game was later teetering on the fringe inside of 2:30 to go with VU down 75-67, when Erik Howlin scored five straight to cut the game down to one possession at 75-72. Vanguard then got the stop they thought they needed with 49 seconds left, but an official deemed that Carson Frawley's box-out was illegal, giving HPU a baseline in-bound and a fresh 20.
Undeterred, the defense bowed up, with Howlin gathering his second steal of the night, and a mad dash to a loose ball on the offensive side resulted in the Sharks fouling "Boogie" Ujadughele with 24 ticks left, sending him to the line.
Ujadughele only managed one successful attempt, and the ensuing VU foul allowed HPU to go back up by four, 77-73. The Lions transitioned quick with no timeouts left, and Bryson Metz corralled a missed triple by Swillis to weave back outside and drain one of his own. The officials went to review whether or not Metz' foot was on the line, which it was not, but more importantly it allowed Vanguard to set their defense down by one with eight seconds left.
On the full-court entry, while HPU was running the baseline, Swillis reached over the line and made contact with the ball. This was ruled as a technical foul, giving the Sharks two shots from the charity stripe and the ball. They made both to go up 79-76, but still the Lions clawed. They forced an errant pace in the backcourt that sailed out of bounds with 5.2 to go, giving them a chance to tie. However, VU had no timeouts left, and Metz bobbled the inbound, tickling away into the hands of HPU's Meza, sealing the game.
Of note: With 6:01 to play in the 2nd half, Vanguard utilized their first challenge of the season to try to overturn a touch out of bounds that was awarded to HPU. However, it was unsuccessful as the camera angle cut-off the action in question, thus costing VU a crucial timeout.
Carson Frawley had a team-high plus-six in the +/- department.
Vanguard had their most offensive rebounds (15) since November 22 at San Francisco State.
What Was Said?: " I am proud of the way our guys fought back to give us a chance down the stretch," said Head Coach Rhett Soliday. "The reality is HPU made big shots in big moments and caused a few key turnovers late that allowed them to close the game out. For them to go 14 for 31 from 3 in their home gym is tough to overcome. We needed to be sharper in some of our coverages and credit them for making us pay with simple quick decisions. We knew the Hawaii trip was going to be a serious challenge. We have been up for the challenge and just need to find a way to close games out. There is no doubt our guys will stay in the fight and keep competing with a lot of hoops left to play."
What's Next?: The island hop to take on the Vulcans of Hawaii-Hilo will conclude this three game road trip on Saturday (9:30PM PT).
