Dixie State storms past Hilo in 1st game of Hawaii road trip

HILO, Hawaii — Josh Fuller had 22 points and four of his teammates also scored in double figures as Dixie State cruised past Hawaii-Hilo 97-79 late Thursday night at the UHH Gymnasium.

dsulogoHolding an 11-10 lead four minutes into the game, DSU reeled off eight straight points to create some separation between the teams. Fuller, and Mark Ogden, Jr. scored and Zac Hunter had two baskets in the spurt, which put the Storm ahead 19-10 with 12:37 to go in the first half.

The lead stayed in that range for the remainder of the half, with Dixie State heading into intermission with a 42-31 advantage. Ogden and Fuller combined for 20 of DSU’s 42 first-half points.

The Vulcans hung in the game until the 13:00 mark of the second half. A jumper by Russell Jordan had cut DSU’s lead to 57-47, but the Storm embarked on a 16-2 run over the next three minutes to put the game away. Brandon Simister started the streak with a jumper in the lane at 12:44.

Josh Fuller
Josh Fuller

Trevor Hill followed with a couple of baskets and the lead kept growing for Dixie State. Randan Berinobis had the only basket for Hilo during the run, which saw DSU’s lead climb to 73-49 with 9:49 to play after a basket by Hunter.

Hawaii-Hilo would get no closer than 18 the rest of the way.

Along with Fuller’s 22, the Storm got 19 from Ogden, 16 from Hunter, 14 from Hill and 10 from Mason Sawyer. Ogden also contributed nine rebounds and Fuller had seven as DSU won the battle on the boards 43-33.

Russell had a game-high 29 points for Hilo, but the Vulcans shot a mediocre 41.9 percent (26-62) from the floor. DSU made 38-70 shots, 54.3 percent.

Dixie State, 8-7 overall and 5-4 in the PacWest Conference, will hop from the Big Island to Oahu for a meeting with Chaminade Saturday night. Tipoff is 11:30 p.m. Utah Time. Hilo is 3-10 overall, 3-6 in conference.

Stats: DSU 97, UHH 79

Women’s basketball
UH-Hilo 68, Dixie State 63

The Dixie State women’s basketball team dropped its first of three games in Hawaii Thursday, falling 68-63 at Hawaii Hilo.

The Storm (3-12, 3-6 PacWest) led by as many as 16 points, but went cold in the fourth quarter, shooting just 3 of 10 in the final period as the Vulcans outscored DSU 26-10 over the last 9:10 of the game.

DSU led 53-42 early in the fourth quarter, but then the Storm went cold. Hawaii Hilo responded with a 10-0 run as DSU went the next 4:05 without a field goal. Mann pushed the Storm lead back to 55-52 with 5:13 remaining, but the Vulcans responded with an 8-0 run to regain the lead for the first time since the 4:24 mark of the first quarter. Chermayne Moore trimmed the UHH lead to 60-59 with another triple, but the Storm would get no closer, as the Vulcans made their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball and rebound,” head coach Jenny Thigpin said. “It comes down to execution in the fourth quarter. We gave up too many second chance points down the stretch.”

The Storm now head to Honolulu for a rematch with Chaminade on Saturday before wrapping up the three-game swing at BYU-Hawaii on Tuesday.

Stats: Hilo 68, DSU 63

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