HILO, Hawai'i-The hosts threw themselves a senior night celebration as the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (10-13 overall, 5-11 PacWest) dropped the first game of their road trip 71-35 to the Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans (9-13 overall, 6-10 PacWest) Saturday night at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
 
Fresno Pacific had won 5 of 6 games, playing exceptionally well at home, in a stretch that included hosting the same Vulcans a few weeks ago.
 
But Hawai'i Hilo had a motivated group of seniors playing their final home game and stoking an outside chance at a PacWest tournament berth.
 
"It was just a super rough night for us all around," Fresno Pacific head coach Tim Beauregard said. "We'll have to regroup quickly and see if we cna find our footing substantially better in a few days."

The 'Birds first quarter was plagued by conceding open threes as Hilo knocked down three of four attempts from deep and put Fresno Pacific in a 21-10 deficit after the first ten minutes.
 
Fresno Pacific's usually reliable rebounding was upended as Hilo not only controlled the glass but converted 11 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points in the first half.
 
The Sunbirds found themselves down 35-19 at the half with Bre Hurt accounting for 9 of FPU's first 19 points.
 
Hilo kept up the rapid pace in the second half searched for consistent offense. FPU was just 3-13 from the field in the third quarter and 0-15 to start the fourth quarter.
 
Jenna Kurz dropped in a late bucket to end the drought.
 
The 'Birds were just 1-19 from deep on the night, further contributing to their struggles offensively.

 "It was an incredibly disconnected effort both offensively and defensively and we really struggled to find any sort of a flow," Beauregard said. "That was a pretty atypical game for us and I'm looking forward to bouncing back with more of a focused and concerted effort on Monday."

Hurt finished as the lone Sunbird in double-figures, finishing with 14 points.

Fresno Pacific will look to bounce back as it continues the Hawai'i road trip on Monday night at Hawai'i Pacific. For the full schedule, visit fpuathletics.com.
 
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