Posted on: Thursday, February 13, 2003

BYUH topples HPU in overtime, 70-61

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Scott Salisbury scored five of his 16 points in overtime and Alexus Foyle scored a game-high 28 points to spark 19th-ranked Brigham Young-Hawai'i past Hawai'i Pacific, 70-61, in a Pacific West Conference basketball game last night at the Blaisdell Arena.

An estimated crowd of 2,000 watched the Seasiders (13-2 overall, 7-1 PacWest) win their fourth straight to take a one-game lead over second-place Hawai'i-Hilo. The fifth-place Sea Warriors (13-7, 2-6) dropped their second straight.

In overtime, BYUH outscored HPU 12-3 and held the Sea Warriors to one field goal by center Leandro Maruoka.

"Overtime is just a matter of minutes," Salisbury said. "You only have the first two possessions to make a statement."

To do that, BYUH turned to inside players Foyle, Salisbury and freshman forward Austin Smylie. The trio combined to score 10 of BYUH's points in overtime.

"We put our hearts out there, but (BYUH) got all the key loose balls and all the extra rebounds," HPU guard Aaron Abrams said. "It seems like they were playing a little harder than us in overtime."

HPU rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first half and forced overtime on Nic Walters' basket that tied the score at 58 with 13 seconds left.

"(HPU) came after us the whole game," BYUH coach Ken Wagner said. "They played really aggressive and really well. I thought we responded well to the challenge."

In the first half, BYUH jumped to a 15-1 lead before Maruoka scored HPU's first basket with 15:11 remaining.

HPU tied the score at 21 on Abrams' two free throws with 5:24 left, but the Sea Warriors couldn't contain Salisbury, who scored seven points during a 11-4 run that staked BYUH to a 32-25 lead. The Seasiders led 34-28 at halftime.

In the second half, HPU grabbed its first lead of the game at 37-36 on Marvin Noble's off-hand layup with 15:15 left. The lead would change nine more times in the second half. HPU grabbed its biggest lead of the game at 49-45 with 8:16 left, but couldn't hold it, as BYUH rallied for a 58-52 lead with 2:26 remaining.

HPU closed to 58-56 before Walters hit his game-tying basket as the shot clock expired. On the play, Walters spun free from his defender and launched a shot near the free-throw line that nipped the front of the rim and tumbled in with 13 seconds left. The Seasiders had a chance for the last shot, but they failed to get a shot off as time expired in regulation.

BYU-HAWAI'I 34 24 12—70

HAWAI'I PACIFIC 28 30  3—61

BYUH—Opunui 0-4 0-0 0; Foyle 12-30 4-6 28; Broering 2-7 0-0 4, Nobmann 2-8 3-3 8, Salisbury 7-13 1-2 16, Lynn 0-2 0-0 0, Frampton 0-1 0-0 0, Basso 0-2 0-0 0, Fellars 2-3, 0-0 4, Gates 1-1 0-0 2, Smylie 4-5 0-0 8.

HPU—Walters 4-12 1-4 10, Block 4-8 0-0 8, Noble 4-18 2-2 11, Abrams 6-17 4-6 19, Maruoka 6-11 1-3 13, Davis 0-1 0-0 0.

Rebounds—BYUH: Nobmann 10, Salisbury 9. HPU: Maruoka 16. Assists—BYUH: Opunui 6. HPU: Noble 5.