DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
BYUH's Pablo Broering, middle, and Scott Salisbury battled Cal State Bakersfield's Martin Rajniak, top, and Fred Nichols for the rebound in the first round of the West Regionals last night.
The Brigham Young-Hawaii basketball team had every reason to thank Cal State Bakersfield for giving it the opportunity to host the NCAA West Regional. BYUH and UH-Hilo
make early exitsThe top-seeded Seasiders are upset
in the first round of the Division II tournamentBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comLast night in Laie, the Seasiders found out firsthand how it came about.
The top-seeded Seasiders were upset by eighth seed Bakersfield 50-41 last night. The Roadrunners face Cal Poly Pomona in the second semifinal tonight at the Cannon Activities Center. Earlier, Hawaii-Hilo lost to Humboldt State 102-81. The Lumberjacks face Cal State San Bernardino in the first semifinal.
The Roadrunners handed BYUH the right to host last week when they beat then-No. 1 seed Cal State San Bernardino. All that is forgotten, though. Now they are the team that stopped the fourth-longest home winning streak in the nation, breaking BYUH's string of 19 straight.
"They (Bakersfield) have done that all year, just not as consistently," Seasiders coach Ken Wagner said. "That's why they were the eighth seed, but we knew what we were getting and didn't look past them."
The Seasiders led by eight midway through the second half, despite Pacific West Conference Player of the Year Alexus Foyle missing his first 12 shots and the team not doing much better, hitting on 29.3 percent of its shots.
"It's too bad for Flex (Foyle), he has had such a great year," Wagner said. "When you look down and see (shooting lines of) 2-for-5, 3-for-16 and 0-for-4 and on down the line, it's a total team loss."
The Roadrunners barely outshot the Seasiders throughout the game when Gerald Johnson broke a tied game open with three 3-pointers in four possessions to take the lead and start hitting their shots to make the margin grow until celebrating the upset in front of a full house of Seasider faithful.
"It's tough, everyone loses their last game, but it is especially disappointing because it is at home," Wagner said. "I really felt we could have gone farther. I hope those who aren't seniors can learn from this, that if you work your tail off you will eventually be successful."
Terri Miller led the Roadrunners with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Austin Smylie led the struggling Seasiders with 15. Scott Salisbury scored 11 in his return to action.
Humboldt State 102, Hawaii-Hilo 81: Part of the fun of tournament basketball is seeing different styles clash. But it won't be any fun for Hawaii-Hilo coach Jeff Law to replay his school's first NCAA tournament appearance.
"It probably won't hit me until the middle of the summer," Law said. "We are not just happy to be here, and after losing I am a little on the sour side. Give Humboldt credit, they brought the intensity and desire I wish my guys would have."
In the first round of the NCAA Division II West regional at Laie yesterday, Hawaii-Hilo (18-10) was sent home after Humboldt State (23-5) ran the Vulcans off the North Shore with a constant press.
It was a defense Law said his team hadn't encountered before, and was a major reason the Vulcans gave up the most points they had all year. They surrendered 101 to Brigham Young-Hawaii on the same Cannon Activities Center floor earlier this season.
"It didn't surprise us; we worked on it, but we didn't execute," Law said. "I think it got into our heads more than against our bodies. When we did show patience, that's when we scored."
The Vulcans handled the constant pressure for the first 13 minutes, even building a six-point lead early, but the Lumberjacks held Hilo scoreless for the next 2 1/2 minutes to turn a one-point Vulcan lead into a 12-point advantage for Humboldt State. The Lumberjacks scored on every possession in that span -- twice on dunks in transition by Fred Hooks -- while shutting out the frustrated Vulcans.
"They pressed hard and it was a lot of wear and tear on the legs and the lungs," Hilo senior point guard Brady Hyde said. "I know I was breathing a little heavy near the end. The thing was that they were fresh and that point guard's (Jeremy Robinson) hands are super quick."
Humboldt State turned the tournament meeting into a game of hockey on the hardwood, running line changes throughout to keep a fresh group on the floor. Every player managed at least nine minutes, with Austin Nichols leading the way with 30 as the team effort snapped the school's two-game losing streak.
"We did it to get us going, it had nothing to do with them," Humboldt coach Tom Wood said about the press and the frequent substitutions. "We have had a number of injuries, and I think I have been getting conservative, so we wanted to play it at a fast tempo to get us going. We were fortunate to get this one. I don't think Hilo played their best and they didn't allow us to play our best."
Hooks led the Lumberjacks with 12 rebounds while scoring 21 points. Nichols scored 23. Hilo's pair of scorers, juniors Ryan Abrahams and Osadonor Esene, each were held to 12 points after combining to average 30 this season.
Nine Lumberjacks scored in the first half, while Hyde carried the Vulcans. Hyde made five of his six shots to score 12 points in the first half en route to 21 for the game. His performance helped ease the struggles of all-conference forward Abrahams.
"Ryan is a shooter first, but he does a lot of other things," Law said. "His jumper keeps him going, keeps him breathing. When he's not shooting well his mind can get a little cloudy."
Abrahams was on the bench with a leg cramp when Hilo made its only run of the game, cutting a 20-point lead to 10 midway through the second half.
"It could have gotten real, real ugly," Law said. "But the guys kept playing hard. I think the guys learned that when you play quality teams with a lot on the line it comes down to execution. We did that, but the lead became too big to overcome."
Law and Hyde solved the press during the intermission, but then Hilo's shooters went cold. The Vulcans hit only one of their first 10 shots of the second half, many of them on open looks after breaking the press.
Hilo's seniors end their careers with a loss, but look back on where they came from and consider it a win.
"The thing that I am most proud of is going from 11 wins to 18 twice," said Hilo senior forward Kyle Bartholomew, who came into the program with Law four years ago. "Looking back on that time, it looked like we would never have a shot at something like this. Just being able to win and have fun is something to be proud of."
Cal State San Bernardino 86, Sonoma State 58: Bobby Burries scored 32 points and Lance Ray added 16 as the Coyotes blew out the Sea Wolves to advance to the semifinals.
Burries was 12-for-17 from the field and perfect in four attempts from beyond the arc. The Coyotes shot 50.9 percent while holding the Sea Wolves to 30.9 percent. Trevor Howe led Sonoma State with 24 points.
Cal Poly Pomona 80, Alaska Fairbanks 76: Guy Beahm scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead a balanced Broncos attack against the Nanooks.
Jonathan Williams contributed 14 points, David Sybesma added 13 and Jonathan Boyd scored 11 for the Broncos (21-7), who advanced to the semifinals.
Steve Towne led Alaska Fairbanks (20-8) with 24 points but couldn't overcome his team's 39-25 deficit on the boards.
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