Box Score

Fresno Pacific outlasted Hawaii Hilo 88-86 in a back-and-forth battle in the FPU Events Center on Saturday as the Sunbirds (7-12, 2-9 PacWest) picked up their second consecutive victory. Both teams shot over 50% from the field while combining for 19 three-pointers in a game that featured no shortage of offensive firepower.

"They shot the lights out," said head coach Chris Wright. "Some of that was them having some really talented players and some of it was us making it easy for them by not getting back in transition and not matching up. We have some things to shore up on the defensive end but our players were hitting big shots all night and that was the difference in the game. Another big factor was having Phil Jackson healthy. He made big contributions on both ends of the floor once again."

The Sunbirds fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half but the team made a late push at the end of the half and carried that momentum into the second half. FPU took the lead for the first time with 11:22 to play on a basketball by Trevon Clayton off a great pass from Malcolm Griffin, one of his game-high 11 assists.

Clayton, who scored a game-high 23 points, would hit some big shots down the stretch, as well as some clutch free-throws, to carry the team to victory. Five players scored in double figures for FPU, led by Clayton's 23 and double-doubles by both Jackson (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Griffin (10 points, 11 assists). Johnell Thompson scored 19 points and Jackson Carbajal added 12.

The Vulcans (3-14, 0-11 PacWest) came out with a gameplan to shut down FPU's leading scorers on the season, Griffin and Carbajal, by playing a Triangle-2 defense that focused solely on limiting those two.

"We challenged Trev, Phil and Johnell to make shots," said Wright. "They scored 60 points between the three of them, and that allowed us to come away with the win."

Derek Owens had 22 points to lead the Vulcans (3-14, 0-11 PacWest) and Joey Rodriguez added 21 points and nine assists.

The Sunbirds now go on the road for two games in the Bay Area, facing Notre Dame de Namur and Holy Names. Thursday night's game will be FPU's first meeting this year with NDNU.

"Both of those teams are underrated and very well coached," said Wright. "They're both tough places to play as well so we will definitely have our hands full."