HILO, Hawai'i-A tight physical battle slipped away late in the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (1-7 overall, 0-3 PacWest) 70-60 loss to the Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans Wednesday night at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

While the Sunbirds found their way to the basket early the Vulcans, the 4^th ranked team in the West Region, defended the paint and its home court.

The Sunbirds held the early advantage with Isaac Peralta getting to the basket twice and Alvar Peltoniemi knocking down a corner three for a 7-4 advantage at the first media timeout.

Fresno Pacific stretched the advantage to 13-5 as Peralta was joined in scoring by Erik Muhonen and Harrison Pennisi for three straight layups.

But Hilo marched right back into the game with three straight field goals to make it 13-12 with 10:42 remaining in the half.

The Vulcans would make it a 12-0 run that turned into a 17-13 Vulcan lead before Peralta hit a free-throw and Ryan Abbott hit a jumper to make it a one point game with 7:26 left in the half.

Hawai'i Hilo added an 8-2 run before the last media timeout of the first half to take a 25-18 lead with 3:10 remaining.

The Vulcans held a 29-24 lead at the half and then grew to double digits at the start of the second half.

Fresno Pacific dug into the difference and kept the game within a couple of possessions thanks to the driving of Peralta and the shooting of Peltoniemi.

A Kyle Monk three-point play brought FPU as close as four points but Hilo closed out the Sunbirds with a 12-2 run with just a minute remaining.

Hilo's advantage was on the interior where they outscored FPU by 14. Outside of points in the pain and blocks-where Hilo registered eight blocked shots-- nearly every statistical was even or within a couple of points.

Peralta delivered a season-high 22 points for FPU while Peltoniemi finished with 12 points.

The Sunbirds will get a break from the road and conference play, returning to the Special Events Center for a non-conference test against Sonoma State on December 16^th at 4:30 p.m.

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