HILO, Hawai'i -- Azusa Pacific opened its three-game Hawai'i road trip by rallying from an eight-point deficit for an 81-77 win against Hawai'i Hilo, capitalizing on timely three-point shooting to help overcome an uncharacteristically cold free throw shooting night that kept the Vulcans within striking distance until the final buzzer.
Corey Langerveld led a group of four Cougars in double figures with a team-high 17 points, hitting all three of his three-point attempts while Joey Schreiber added 13 points and 12 rebounds on four-of-seven shooting from long range. As a team, Azusa Pacific made 10-of-21 three-pointers, shooting from long range at a higher percentage (48 percent) than free throws, where the Cougars were a combined 17-of-37 for a season-low 46 percent.
With the win, Azusa Pacific continues its winning streak into the New Year, claiming its fourth straight win while improving to 8-7 overall and 3-2 in Pacific West Conference play. The Cougars travel from the Big Island to O'ahu for the remainder of the road trip, taking on Hawai'i Pacific Thursday night in Honolulu before visiting BYU-Hawaii on the North Shore on Saturday.
A Langerveld three with 17:27 left in the game gave Azusa Pacific a 41-32 lead, its largest of the game, but Hawai'i Hilo stormed back with a 22-5 run to take an eight-point lead, 54-46, midway through the second half. Connor Peterson answered with a layup followed by two Langerveld free throws, starting a 10-2 run that Schreiber and Peterson finished with back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 56-56 with 7:17 to play.
After UHH got back in front, 62-59, the Cougars took control by scoring 11 of the next 12 points, using three-pointers from Will Ferris and Schreiber to take a 70-63 edge into the final 2:45. However, the Cougars were just six-of-14 from the line down the stretch, allowing the Vulcans to pull within a point in the final minute on three-pointers from Parker Farris and Darius Johnson-Wilson and an Arnold Silva layup with 16.8 seconds to play, which cut the Azusa Pacific lead to 78-77.
Peterson, fouled on the inbounds play, hit one-of-two free throws to make it a two-point game, 79-77, and Petar Kutlesic blocked a Farris three-point attempt which set up Justin Byrd for a layup with three seconds left for the final margin.
Peterson scored 14 points with four rebounds and four assists, and Ferris provided a 14-point effort off the bench for the Cougars. Kutlesic registered nine points, seven rebounds, and a pair of blocks.
Hawai'i Hilo, which dropped to 5-7 overall and 3-3 in the PacWest, was led by Farris' 19-point effort, while Brian Ishola registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Vulcans shot just 42 percent (28-for-67) from the field, including a 30 percent (8-for-27) clip from three-point range.
