Freshman guard A.J. Reilly hit two clutch free throws with 17 seconds left in the game after the Vulcans had rallied from a 13-point deficit to close within one point at 80-79.  After Reilly moved the lead back to three points, UH-Hilo tried to work the ball to their top three-point shooter, Jay DeMaestri, but the BYU–Hawaii defense would not allow the pass into the corner.  The Vulcans settled instead for a shot inside by Brandon Price that was blocked by Lucas Alves.  Price got the ball back and scored to cut the lead to 82-81 and quickly fouled Alves on the inbounds play but there was just 0.4 seconds left on the clock.  Alves connected on both free throws for the final margin and the Vulcans were unable to score on a desperation heave at the buzzer.
 
BYU–Hawaii led by as many as ten points in the opening half before UH-Hilo came back to take a two-point lead just before the end of the half.  A jumper by Nathan Sims tied the score at 39-39 at the break.  The Vulcans opened the second half with a three-pointer by John Smith to take their biggest lead of the game but the Seasiders scored the next eight points to take the lead for good.  BYU–Hawaii stretched the lead to 13 with 7:42 to play and still held a ten-point lead with just 3:19 remaining.  But the Vulcans bounced back and had a shot to tie the game with 18 seconds left.  However, Price missed the second of two free throws leaving UH-Hilo a point short and leading to the foul that sent Reilly to the line a second later.

Alves scored 24 points to lead the BYU–Hawaii attack.  Trenson Akana tallied 13 to go with four assists, five rebounds, and two steals for the Seasiders.  Sims notched a double-double with ten points and 14 rebounds to go with four assists.  Sims snared seven of his rebounds on the offensive glass and Marques Whippy snatched six of his eight rebounds on the offensive end to help the Seasiders to a 54-26 rebound advantage in the game.  Jermaine Odjegba added ten points, eight rebounds, and three assists in the win.  Jet Chang and J.R. Buensuceso scored eight points apiece and Reilly finished with seven for BYU–Hawaii.

DeMaestri scored 20 points and hit six three-pointers to lead UH-Hilo, now 11-10 for the season and 4-5 in the conference.  Jacob Briggs had 17 and Charlando Brown, Bryan Ngo, and Smith each scored 12 for the Vulcans.