The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

Maybe the Vancouver Volcanoes should simply bypass the first 47 minutes of their next International Basketball League game. All that seems to matter is the end.

For the third consecutive contest Saturday, the Volcanoes (12-6) found themselves defending a 3-point attempt at the buzzer with the game hanging in the balance. This time, the shot from the Bellingham Slam’s Paul Hafford missed, leaving Vancouver with a 129-127 victory at Clark College.

A week ago, the Volcanoes lost 138-137 to Olympia. Friday night, they defeated Tacoma, 122-120.

Of course, without a late basket by Kevin Tyner on Saturday, Vancouver would not have had a lead to defend. Tyner used a screen from Devin Uskoski to drive for a layup with 2.4 seconds to play, providing the 129-127 advantage.

“It was a pick-and-roll situation,” Tyner said. “That’s the way we drew it up. I just needed a crack in the defense. I found a crack and got to the basket.”

That set up the miss by Hafford, who barely missed anything for most of the night. The former Portland State player had 40 points through three quarters, going 14 of 17 from the field, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range.

But he was 0 for 6 in the fourth.

“I felt good the first three quarters,” he said. “It felt like everything that left my hand had a chance.”

On the final shot, Hafford got the ball in the left corner and shot over two defenders.

“I should have pump-faked and drawn the foul and gotten three free throws,” he said.

The Volcanoes held a 95-93 lead through three quarters, and the game saw five ties in the opening moments of the final period. Bellingham then went on an 8-0 run to seize the lead, but Vancouver answered with a 13-0 stretch to regain control.

“These games are high scoring, and there are always a lot of runs,” Volcanoes coach Bryan Hunter said. “I try to teach our guys to stay calm.”

Print this article