SALT LAKE— Late free throws down the stretch helped Moanalua hold off Kalani, 53-47 in an Oahu Interscholastic Association East matchup at Moanalua High School on Tuesday night. The Na Menehune improve to 5-3 and are currently tied with Kaiser and Farrington for third. The Falcons drop to 3-5.

"Any win in the OIA East is a good win and we'll take it," said Moanalua coach Byron Mello.

Eric Miyauchi was clutch down the stretch as he made 5 of 6 free throws to help seal the game for the Na Menehune.

"It was support from the team and they believed in me. I got to make sure I do my job so everyone can do their job. It's a team sport so we each have to do our own jobs and that's the main part," said Miyauchi.

Moanalua led 48-41 before Alex Tungpalan hit a 3-pointer and the Falcons called a timeout with 22.4 seconds remaining. Miyauchi was fouled immediately and made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 49-44. Tungpalan banked a 3-pointer near the top of the arc with 10.0 seconds remaining and Kalani called another timeout.

"That's something I know we'll always be there with that," said Kalani coach Nathan Davis, on the comeback. "That's the great thing about Kalani and the kids that come out of there. They're never going to quit on us and they'll put it together."

"Frankly, Kalani is a team that concerns me for that reason, they're streaky shooters and could put 10 or 12 points together and that's what potentially could've happened tonight. I was proud of my kids how they played with poise and made plays down the end and made free throws," said Mello.

Miyauchi was fouled with 8.7 seconds left and made both free throws to give Moanalua a lead, 51-47. Kapaa Nishimura's 3-point attempt was no good and Miyauchi grabbed the rebound. He was fouled and made both free throws with 0.7 seconds left for the finishing touches.

"We made some big plays down the stretch and put us in a position to win the game," said Mello.

"We had two tough losses to Kahuku and Roosevelt and didn't have a good practice yesterday. We showed up tonight and made a statement we could bounce back. I'm happy we played together and got out with this win," said Miyauchi.

The Na Menehune managed to outscore Kalani, 15 to 5 in the third quarter. McRaven and RJ Dominguez combined for nine points in the paint. The Falcons went 2 of 10 from the field in the third.

"Third quarters have been something we had to deal with all year," said Davis. "We probably outscored them for three quarters and that's been the case in a lot of our games. But we'll come out flat in the third quarter a lot of times. We have to figure out that eight minutes."

Moanalua trailed 28-25 going into halftime. Kalani shot 5 of 11 (45.4 percent) from the 3-point line and Tungpalan scored 12 of his 23 in the first half.

Tungpalan led all scorers with 23 points and was 5 of 9 shooting from the 3-point line, two were big 3's in the fourth. The Falcons shot 9 of 23 (39.1 percent) from the 3-point line for the game.

"We can always count on him for those kind of heroics, probably the best shooter we had in like 10 years. He's reliable now, he was inconsistent earlier, but now he's coming into his own. Probably when we need him the most," said Davis, on Tungpalan.

Mello was pleased with the play of his reserves and the Na Menehune got 19 points from the bench led by Dominguez, a sophomore forward, who scored 11 for the game and grabbed seven rebounds.

"We have guys in our rotation tonight that were on the floor that don't play a lot. RJ is a good offensive player and is assertive as a sophomore, when he is decisive going to the basket and is a good finisher. I was really pleased with effort from the guys off the bench," said Mello.

Kyrie McRaven led Moanalua with 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. McRaven scored eight first quarter points in the paint.

"He's a good player and he did a great job picking his moments," said Davis.

Moanalua plays at Castle on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. while Kalani hosts Kailua on the same night at the same time.