Hilo, HI—The Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s basketball team lost a very close game tonight falling to the UH-Hilo Vulcans 87-86.  The Seasiders had the lead early on in the game, maintained it for most of the first and second half, and then lost to a last second shot by the Vulcans.

The Seasiders scored the first basket of the night, quickly losing the lead to the Vulcans, but pulled ahead with 8:56 in the first half. The Seasiders held onto the lead for the majority of the second half until the Vulcans sunk a three-pointer with 7:00 on the clock. The Seasiders stole pulled ahead two more times, but the Vulcans won with a jumper at the buzzer.

BYU-Hawaii’s Virgil Buensuceso led the team with 19, followed closely by Anthony Reilly with 18, and Marques Whippy and Rory Patterson with 10 points each.  Anthony Reilly led the team in three-pointers shooting 4-4.

Zachary Wilde led the Vulcans with 23 points and Andrew Gipson and Justin Smith both had 16 points for the game. Justin Smith led the team in rebounds with a total of nine for the game.

BYU-Hawaii will be facing Hawaii Pacific in Laie on January 23, 2010. The Seasiders are now 1-2 for the 2009-2010 season.