HILO, Hawaii - For the second time in the 2018-19 season, the Simpson University Red Hawks have beaten an NCAA DII team on the road. This time the victim was the University of Hawaii Hilo Vulcans, as Simpson held on to win 78-75.

After a back and forth first half, Simpson found themselves up by five at the half 36-31 mainly because of the Red Hawk defense holding the Vulcans to just 26 percent shooting in the first half. After two consecutive threes from Blake Trent and a pair of free throws from JT Branch out of the intermission, Simpson jumped out to its largest lead of the night at 44-33. The Red Hawks then relied on their defense once again for the remainder of the contest; able to hold off the Vulcans second half push, pulling off the three point win.

"This was a huge for us not just because of the division that the University of Hawaii Hilo is in, but because we are learning how to win games," Franklin exclaimed, "We still show our youth at times, but we are now able to play through some of those moments and not fold or panic."

Four Simpson players were in double figures led by Kishon Rogers who tallied a career-high 17 points in 16 minutes off the bench. On his first game back from injury, Jon Manjon recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.  The Red Hawks went six players deep into their bench resulting in a vital 31 bench points which was a key contributor in the victory.

Coach Franklin is already looking forward to Saturday's rematch, "What this win does is set up a great rematch for Saturday, which is so good for us because in our conference we are going to have to beat somebody twice if we want to advance," Franklin said.

SU improves to 5-1 with the win, the programs best start in over 15 years, including two road wins against NCAA D II opponents and a victory over rival William Jessup.

The Red Hawks will take on the Vulcans in round two, Saturday night, with the tip-off set at 9:30 PST.