HILO, Hawaii - Simpson's comeback came up just short as the Red Hawks to Hawaii Hilo 76-71.  After shocking the Vulcans with a 78-75 win on Thursday night, the rematch was very similar as it was a close affair throughout.

After trailing by 14 with 11 minutes to go in the second half, the Red Hawks fought back and had a chance to tie the game with just under two minutes remaining. Coach Franklin was proud of the way his team didn't give up, " I might actually be more proud of my team tonight than I was when we won on Thursday. Down by double digits in the second half, we could have folded, but instead we dug our heels in,"  Franklin said.

Despite not having their best night offensively, the Red Hawks found a way to hang with a talented NCAA D II club, nearly beating them for the second straight time in three nights.

Tiyon Martin continues his impressive freshman campaign leading the Red Hawk offense with 21 points. Blake Trent added 15 points and JT Branch contributed his first double-double as a Red Hawk, finishing with 13 points and a game high 11 rebounds.


There is an enormous amount of excitement surrounding this team off to the program's best start in over 15 years, "We have the chance to be pretty special in March if we keep buying in and serving each other," Franklin said.

SU remains with the impressive start at 5-2 in what has been a difficult non-conference schedule and will be back on the home floor as they take on Multnomah University on Saturday Nov. 24th at 2 pm.