MEDIA RELEASE

The University of Hawaii at Hilo hung around for 37 minutes before losing 76-65 to the University of Hawaii in an exhibition game in the Stan Sheriff Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.

With just two returning seniors on his squad, 12th-year head coach Jeff Law made the most of his annual match-up with the Division I Warriors.

“I was happy with our effort,” Law said. “I was a little concerned with so many new guys, putting together and playing against competition like this.”

Justin Smith led the Vulcans with 19 points on 9 of 17 shooting from the field. He also had four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

“Justin’s a good kid, a hard worker and the guys like him,” Law said. “He doesn’t have a lot of negative vibes about him. He can do a lot of different things. For him do to what he did against those guys says a lot about him.”

First-team pre-season all-PacWest selection Bryan Ngo had a rough start to his senior campaign with a 2-for-13 performance from the field for eight points. He also had five rebounds, an assist, two steals and two turnovers.

“Bryan goes a hundred miles an hour,” Law said. “His problem tonight was he got too deep in the forest and couldn’t get the ball through the limbs or the ball around the trunks. He’ll learn from that. He had a couple of games like that last year too.”

UH-Hilo vs Hawai`i
10/30/09 7:05 p.m. at Stan Sheriff Center – Honolulu, HI

UH-Hilo 65

Hawai`i 76