HPU Athletics
HONOLULU – Hawai’i Pacific University redshirt freshman Jackson Young’s follow up with 0.4 seconds to play gave HPU a 65-63 victory over Alaska in the GNAC-PacWest Challenge at the St. Louis Clarence T.C. Ching Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Sharks (1-1) saw the Nanooks (0-2) battle back to tie the contest at 63-all on a free throw with 34 seconds to play before Jackson Young followed teammate Roman Young’s shot with the game winner.
Jackson Young, from Kerrville, Texas/Tivy, and grad student Roman Young of Wichita, Kan./Sunrise Academy, both scored 11 points to lead the Sharks, while senior Rodney Hounshell of Richmond, Va./West Linn (Ore.) collected 10 points. Hounshell, junior Trey Miller of Mukilteo, Wash./Archbishop Murphy and sophomore Jakob Kimura of Honolulu/Punahou all grabbed a game-high five rebounds.
The Nanooks were led by Quin Barnard with 20 points as the only Alaska player in double figures. Coleman Sparling and Abdullahi Mohamed both chalked up nine points and five rebounds.
HPU shot 48 percent from the floor (25-of-52), including 7-of-22 (32 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks made 8-of-12 free throws (67 percent). UAF hit 39 percent from the field (20-of-51), but that included 11-of-18 (61 percent) from the arc. The Nanooks were 12-of-18 (67 percent) from the charity stripe. The teams were equal on the boards with 31 each, but HPU turned the ball over 18 times to Alaska’s 15.
HPU opened the contest with the upper hand, holding on to the lead and building a 12-point advantage on a follow-up layup by Kimura with 4:40 to play for a 28-16 lead.
That’s when the Nanooks caught fire, using a Barnard triple to key a 17-2 run for the rest of the half as Alaska took a 33-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Alaska built the lead to four with 16:10 to play before the Sharks answered with a 9-0 to retake the lead on a Miller layup, then extend it to a 44-39 lead on a hook shot by sophomore Tucker Pellicci of Portland, Ore./Franklin with 12:22 to go. After exchanging scores, HPU pushed the lead to seven at 52-45 on a Jackson Young 3-pointer with 8:40 to play.
After a 6-0 Nanook run, the teams swapped the lead until HPU used a 9-2 run late. The Sharks took the lead on a 3-ball from senior Domantas Sakickas of Kedainiai, Lithuania/Hagarstown MD Broadfording Christian and made it five on a layup from junior Trey Chapman of Healdsburg, Calif./Healdsburg for a 63-58 lead with 3:30 remaining.
But the Nanooks battled back with a 5-0 run capped by a Mohamed free throw with 34 seconds left. He made the first, then missed the second with Chapman getting the rebound.
HPU got the ball into Roman Young’s hands, who then drove the lane and put a shot up in the waning seconds. It bounded off the back of the rim right to Jackson Young who followed with the layin just before the buzzer.
The officials placed 0.4 seconds on the clock, but the Nanooks could not get a shot off in time.
The game was originally scheduled for McCabe Gymnasium, but a roof leak made the venue unplayable. Saint Louis School officials allowed Chaminade to use the new Ching Center to play Sunday’s GNAC-PacWest games.
HPU plays its home opener next weekend at The Shark Tank, welcoming Northwest Indian College for games on Friday and Saturday evenings at 6:30 p.m.