Tuesday, March 10, 1998
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
HPU's Willie Flowers drives through traffic in last night's game.
Sea Warriors earn NAIA berth
By Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinThat J.J. Lucas nearly doubled his season average off the glass was enough to make Hawaii Pacific University coach Tony Sellitto smile.
But there was much more for the 10th-year coach to be happy about.
With last night's 77-71 victory over Brigham Young University-Hawaii in the Far West/Hawaii Region Championship at Blaisdell Arena, HPU earned an automatic berth in the 61st NAIA National Championships at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The Sea Warriors (22-4) also shot 49 percent from the field - 56 percent in the second half - and 44 percent from 3-point range. They averaged 47 percent from the floor and 37 percent from long range during the season.
"They hit some big shots in the second half and we missed a few," said BYUH coach Ken Wagner, whose team was 0-for-9 on 3-point tries in the second half, and 1-for-15 in the game.
Rallying from a 12-point deficit to take a two-point lead at the half, HPU lit up the noisy arena with six 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza to incinerate the Seasiders' game plan.
"We were playing hard, but not very smart in the first half," said the 6-foot-10 Lucas, who had 12 rebounds to equal his season high. The senior, who transferred to HPU from Vanderbilt for the 1996-97 season, also was 3-for-7 from 3-point range and had three blocks, two steals and an assist.
HPU outrebounded BYUH, 39-34, in the game and 19-13 in the second half.
"As soon as we came back, I thought we'd win the game," Sellitto said, "because either they were going to blow us out, or it was never going to happen.
"We're a second-half team. The first half, we want to stay with a club, and it's extremely difficult for anybody to push J.J. and his 250 pounds around for a whole game. And I don't mean just on this level. I mean on any level."
Sellitto said he got a call yesterday saying that if Lucas improved his rebounding, he might get an invitation to an NBA camp.
"They have no question about his offense, he's a great shooter," said Sellitto, who picked up his 232nd victory against 88 losses.
"But if he rebounds, he's going to be big-time. He'll play somewhere - even if it's Europe - and make a lot more money than me."
It was HPU's second win against the Seasiders (19-7) in six nights and the Sea Warriors' third in four meetings between the teams this season.
While the Sea Warriors, ranked No. 8 in the NAIA, earned the automatic berth, the Seasiders (No. 10) received an at-large berth for the national tournament today.
Llewellyn Smalley scored 21 points to lead four Sea Warriors in double figures. Willie Flowers had 18, Lucas had 13 and Gilbert Smith added 10.
Flowers' third trey in four attempts 10 minutes into the second half gave HPU a 62-53 lead. The Seasiders crept within a few points of the lead on several occasions, but each time, Flowers or Lucas answered with a 3-pointer.
Smalley, the Hawaii Intercollegiate Athletic Conference MVP, said he figured that HPU's 100-76 victory over BYUH on Thursday might fire up the Seasiders. Early on it apparently did as the Laie team jumped out to a 14-4 lead.
"In the first half, they kind of shocked us a little bit," Smalley said. "But in the second half, we came out patient with more intensity and more defensive pressure. It went our way, and thank God for the win."
BYUH sophomore guard David Evans, who led his team with 33 points (12-for-18 from the field), said his team wasn't aggressive enough on the perimeter.
"They had an open look and they hit them down," he said. "They're good shooters. We should've got out and got in their faces, but we didn't do it tonight."
At Blaisdell Arena
Seasiders (19-7)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tpAkana 25 2 10 2 2 0 1 6
Gornichec 18 1 7 0 1 3 2 3
Bates 30 5 6 4 5 8 2 14
DEvans 32 12 18 9 11 4 4 33
Salisbury 20 2 5 0 2 7 3 4
Fripp 12 0 2 0 0 0 2 0
AEvans 22 1 6 0 0 2 2 2
Joyce 15 2 4 1 1 1 1 5
Isom 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
ESmith 25 2 3 0 0 8 3 4
Team 0
Totals 200 27 62 16 22 34 22 71
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tpHalftime score-HPU 35, BYUH 33.Lee 20 2 5 0 0 2 4 5
Smalley 39 7 17 6 9 6 3 21
GSmith 26 4 5 2 6 3 2 10
Lucas 38 4 15 2 2 12 1 13
Flowers 33 6 7 3 5 6 4 18
Westberry 21 2 5 0 1 5 2 4
Lewis 14 3 3 0 3 1 2 6
Ray 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kato 7 0 0 0 0 2 2 0
Team 0
Totals 200 28 57 13 26 39 20 77
3-point goals-BYUH 1-15 (Gornichec 1), HPU 8-18 (Flowers 3, Lucas 3, Lee, Smalley).
Assists-BYUH 10 (Akana, Bates, Evans, E. Smith 2). HPU 16 (Smalley, Westberry 5). Turnovers-BYUH 10, HPU 17. Blocked shots-BYUH 1 (Evans), HPU 4 (Lucas).
A-3,000. Officials: Tanibe, Yamasaki, Souza.
