Sizzling shooting helps Hawaii Pacific rout St. Edward's in Hoops in Hawaii opener

HONOLULU — Welcome to the Splash Zone.

Behind a blistering first half from 3-point range and a suffocating defensive effort, Hawaii Pacific cruised to an 88-64 win over St. Edward's (Texas) on Friday morning in the opener of the 2026 Hoops in Hawaii Tip-Off Classic.

The Sharks (1-0) looked right at home at McCabe Gym on the Chaminade campus, making 19 3-pointers in their season opener. It was HPU's most made 3s in a game since it hit a program-record 20 against Grace Bible College at the 2015 Hoops in Hawaii Classic.

"Winning is hard, so [when] you get a win like that, you try to enjoy it," fourth-year coach Jesse Nakanishi said. "Every team in this tournament is figuring out their own team right now, so being able to get a win like that while we're still figuring ourselves out is a sign of some good work that we put in."

Senior guard Avi Halpert led HPU with a game-high 23 points, going 8-of-11 from the field and 7-of-10 from 3-point range against a Hilltoppers team that received votes in the NCAA Division II preseason Top 25. Halpert scored 21 of his points before halftime as the Sharks took a 57-25 lead into the break.

"[Shooting is] a separator in basketball, and we shot the heck out of it in the first half and fortunately created a big enough gap to hang on in a second half where we did not take care of the ball very well," Nakanishi said.

HPU shot 63% in the first half and made 15 of 24 3-point attempts. Despite featuring nine new players and no returning starters, the Sharks assisted on 17 of their 19 first-half field goals.

"We really talk about turning bronze to silver and silver to gold as far as how we rate shots," Nakanishi said. "Our guys shared it, especially in that first half … Obviously, you've got to make shots to get assists, but we really were moving the ball and sharing the ball and pushing in transition with pitch-aheads that really gave us some clean looks in the first half."

The Sharks committed 24 turnovers, 18 after halftime, which led to 25 St. Edward's points. But HPU held the Hilltoppers to 12-of-31 shooting in the second half to close out the win and advance to Saturday's semifinals.

Robert Conran led St. Edward's with 16 points. Donovan Santoro was the only other Hilltopper in double figures, with 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench.

Third-year forward Marino Dubravcic had 10 points and 12 rebounds in 22 minutes for his first career double-double in his first official game for HPU. The 6-foot-10 transfer from Northern Iowa also had a team-high seven turnovers.

Evan Kilminster, a transfer from USC Beaufort, added 15 points and six assists in 31 minutes in his Sharks debut. The 6-foot-3 guard made four 3-pointers, second on the team behind Halpert.

Returning third-year guard Nemanja Sarenac was the fourth Shark in double figures, making three 3-pointers, including a four-point play, to finish with 10 points in 28 minutes. The Serbian guard also had four rebounds, three assists and two of the team's nine steals.

Hawaii Pacific plays Minot State (North Dakota) in the semifinals at 5:15 p.m. HST Saturday at McCabe Gym. The Beavers upset Adelphi (New York) 75-74 in the tournament's second game behind 34 points from guard Jayse Boatwright.