Reilly's Game-Winner Stops HPU

Laie, HI—Brigham Young University Hawaii’s A.J. Reilly banked in a short jumper with .1 second remaining to give the Seasiders a wild 89-88 win over Hawaii Pacific tonight in Pacific West Conference men’s basketball action.  Reilly’s heroics capped a stunning final minute of the game and gave new life to the Seasiders in the PacWest Conference race.

BYU–Hawaii led by 11 points, 83-72, following a Marques Whippy layup with 3:46 to play in the game.  However, Hawaii Pacific stormed back with 11 straight points to tie the game with 1:16 remaining.  Garrett Sandberg scored on a short jumper ten seconds later but, after the teams traded turnovers, Ray Murdock hit a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left to tie the game at 85-85.  The Seasiders worked the ball in to All-American Lucas Alves and Alves scored on a dunk with 13 seconds on the clock to put BYU–Hawaii on top 87-85.  The Sea Warriors hurried the ball down the court without calling a timeout and Murdock forced up a three-pointer that missed.  But the ball bounced back to Murdock just inside the three-point line and he stepped back and launched another three-pointer that went through with three seconds to play and put the Sea Warriors on top by one.  Whippy grabbed the ball for BYU–Hawaii and promptly heaved it the length of the court for a streaking Heath Gameren.  The ball appeared to be sailing beyond Gameren’s reach but he made a great over the head catch under the BYU–Hawaii basket and dished the ball back to Reilly on the left side of the basket for the game-winner.

Reilly helped spark BYU–Hawaii to a 49-37 halftime lead by scoring 14 points off the bench and the Seasiders maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half.  Hawaii Pacific stayed in the game, though, with the help of a 48-30 rebound advantage and the Seasiders’ inability to convert free throws.  BYU–Hawaii shot just 53.8 percent (14-26) from the charity stripe while Hawaii Pacific hit 15-18 for 83.3 percent.  BYU–Hawaii forced the Sea Warriors into 27 turnovers for the game and came up with 19 steals while committing just 16 turnovers themselves.

Rory Patterson scored 19 points, many of them on dunks, to lead BYU–Hawaii.  Whippy finished with an amazing stat line of 17 points, 15 rebounds, including ten offensive rebounds, four assists, and five steals.  Reilly finished with 16 points, five steals, and six assists, with his game-winner being his only points in the second half.  Cory Chase came off the bench to hit two three-pointers and score 11 points while Sandberg tallied ten points and Alves added eight.  J.R. Buensuceso scored six points, dished out six assist, and also came up with five steals for BYU–Hawaii and Gameren finished with a game-high seven assists to go with five steals.

Mike Helton scored 25 points to lead Hawaii Pacific, now 13-4 for the year and 5-1 in the conference.  Murdock had 15 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists while Cliff Hodge had 13 points for the Sea Warriors.  Jeff Ingram had ten points and C.J. Jackson had nine points and ten rebounds for Hawaii Pacific in the loss.

BYU-Hawaii will face Chaminade next, on Friday in Honolulu at 7:30 pm HST in another Pacific West Conference contest.

Box Score