BYUH, UHH ready for basketball regional
| • | Tournament capsules |
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
In reaching the postseason for the second season in a row, Brigham Young-Hawai'i coach Ken Wagner knows there's no gimmies in the NCAA Division II West Regional Basketball Tournament.
Advertiser library photo • Feb. 25, 2003
Starting today, the eight best teams in the West will play at BYUH's 4,500-seat Cannon Activities Center in La'ie.
"To get to this point, all of the teams have to be reckoned with," said BYUH coach Ken Wagner.
The Division II tournament — the first ever played in Hawai'i — will feature the nation's leading scorer in BYUH's Alexus Foyle and some of the best teams in the country, including 12th-ranked BYUH and Hawai'i-Hilo.
"To get to this point, all of the teams have to be reckoned with," said Wagner, whose Seasiders lost to Seattle Pacific in the first round, 82-57, last season.
The top-seeded Seasiders (19-3) will face eighth-seeded Cal State-Bakersfield (19-8) in the first round. In their only meeting, the Roadrunners beat the Seasiders, 75-74, in Hawai'i in 1996.
The Roadrunners are led by forwards Terri Miller (12.9 points, 9.0 rebounds per game) and Fred Nichols (12 points, 8.8 rebounds). The 6-foot-8 Miller needs two blocks to break the single-season school record of 57.
• Where: At Cannon Activities Center, La'ie • Schedule: Today's games Game 1: No. 6 Hawai'i-Hilo (18-9) vs. No. 3 Humboldt State (22-5), noon Game 2: No. 7 Sonoma State (18-9) vs. No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino (21-6), 2:30 p.m. Game 3: No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona (20-7) vs. No. 5 Alaska Fairbanks (20-7), 6 p.m. Game 4: No. 1 Brigham Young-Hawai'i (19-3) vs. No. 8 Cal State Bakersfield (19-8), 8:30 p.m. Tomorrow's games Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5 p.m. Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7:30 p.m. Monday's game Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 7 p.m. • Admission: General admission is $5 per session, $15 for the tournament. Students (kindergarten through college with valid IDs) are $3 per session, $9 for the tournament. The two day games Friday count as one session, and the two night games count as another session. Saturday's semifinals count as one session, and Monday's final counts as one session
"They're a big, physical team," Wagner said. "They're very, very good."
NCAA Division II
West Regional
First round
Semifinals
Championship
The Seasiders will counter with two-time defending Pacific West Conference Player of the Year Foyle and two-time, all-conference selection Scott Salisbury. Foyle, a 6-foot-6 forward, leads the country in scoring at 27.6 points a game, while the 6-foot-8 center Salisbury (15.9 points, 10.5 rebounds) will start his first game since suffering a fractured larynx Feb. 12.
Wagner said he'll rely on his veterans to lead his battle-tested team (BYUH has played five games this season against NCAA Tournament teams UH-Hilo, Kennesaw State and Fort Lewis).
"We've had some players who have been around," Wagner said. "When you have the experience of people like Alexus and Scott, I think they'll come out and play well."
In another first-round game, sixth-seeded UH-Hilo (18-9) will face third-seeded Humboldt State (22-5), which will be led by All-West Region junior forwards Fred Hooks and Austin Nichols.
Hooks averages 17.2 points and 12.3 rebounds per game, while Nichols averages 22.4 points and five rebounds.
"I know Nichols and Hooks are the two main men," said UH-Hilo coach Jeff Law. "Two years ago at Humboldt, Hooks went off for (a school and league record) 29 rebounds against us."
Law will call on juniors Ryan Abrahams (16.6 points per game), Osadonor Esene (14.1 points) and senior Kyle Bartholomew (11.4 points).
Humboldt State will be participating in its third consecutive NCAA tournament, while the Vulcans are making their first.
"I know they have a lot of experience, not just together, but also in the regionals," Law said. "We have to find a couple of little snares in their armor and see if we can peck away at that."
