Sean Johnson scored 16 points, and Marvin Binney and Jeremiah Jones each added 13 to lead NCAA Division I Duquesne to a 92-46 win over the University of Hawaii at Hilo on Sunday.
The exhibition men’s basketball game was played before 1,909 fans at Palumbo Court in Pittsburgh.
The host Dukes (2-0) drained 15 of 31 3-pointers and dominated inside, outrebounding the smaller Division II Vulcans 54-34 and blocking eight shots. Duquesne led 43-27 at the intermission and then outscored UH-Hilo 49-19 in the second half.
Eleven of the 14 Duquesne players who played scored, with P.J. Torres and Quevyn Winters each adding nine points and Andre Marhold, Derrick Colter chipping in with eight apiece.
Senior power forward Michael Melonas led UH-Hilo with 14 points. Brandon Thomas followed with nine points, Mychael Hearn had eight, and Kiel Myers added six for the cold-shooting visitors.
The Vulcans now travel to Oregon and will play Western Oregon on Friday and St. Martin’s on Saturday to wrap up the season-opening four-game road trip.
Women beat
D. One on Saturday
As former University of Hawaii standout Nani Cockett talked to University of Hawaii at Hilo coach David Kaneshiro after an exhibition basketball game on Saturday night, you could see them share a warm smile and twinkle in their eyes — and for different but important reasons to both.
For Cockett, an incredible prep player out of Kamehameha Schools on Oahu and a four-year star with the Rainbow Wahine, it’s her time to take a step back and let the younger players on her D. One basketball team handle most of the minutes in their annual exhibition games against Hawaii’s small-college teams.
Cockett spent Saturday evening coaching D. One, a team of former collegiate players from Hawaii, as it battled Kaneshiro’s young Vulcans before a small-but-appreciative crowd at the UH-Hilo gym. The Vulcans built a 29-20 halftime lead and held on to beat Cockett’s cagers 54-51, but it was the challenges within the game and what D. One provided UH-Hilo that left a positive impression on Kaneshiro.
For Kaneshiro, the chance to play D. One is about the present, getting his players ready for the Pacific West Conference season and trying to help his squad fulfill its potential.
Brandy Richardson, a former all-state player out of Kalaheo High on Oahu and an ex-UC Santa Barbara star, and Jamie Smith, a former Iolani School and UNLV standout, combined for 35 of D. One’s 51 points and 26 of their 41 rebounds. The 6-0 Richardson muscled her way inside for nine points and ripped down 12 rebounds; the 6-1 Smith scored a game-high 26 points, including three 3-pointers, while playing inside and out. She also had a game-high 14 rebounds.
Senior forward Shannon Rousseau led the Vulcans with nine points. Kamie Imai, a 5-9 guard, had eight points, point guard Kirsten Shimizu had seven, and senior guard Kirsty Imai and junior-college transfer Briana Smythe each added six points. Junior forward Jazzmyn Davis had a team-high 10 rebounds as UH-Hilo outrebounded D. One 42-41.
“This game is for us to help them,” Cockett said, referring to the Vulcans.
