2008 NCAA Division II Men's Elite Eight

Semifinals (Mar. 27): Seawolves Lose To Augusta State

Arts	Olsen

Carl Arts scored 19 points and McCade Olsen had 12 of his 14 points in a furious second-half comeback but it was not enough to rescue Alaska Anchorage from a huge halftime deficit as the Seawolves fell to 10th ranked Augusta State 56-50 in the NCAA Division II national semifinals at the MassMutual Center.

Nationally fourth-ranked UAA also got nine points from guard Chris Bryant and eight points from forward Cameron Burney as it completed the second-longest playoff run in school history.

Senior All-American point guard Luke Cooper had seven assists to push his season total to 310, the fourth-highest number in 52 years of Division II history.

Augusta State (27-6), of the Peach Belt Conference, was led by 18 points and nine rebounds from All-America forward A.J. Bowman, while 6-11 center Garret Siler dropped in 17 points on eight of 11 shooting.

The Seawolves were hurt by poor first-half shooting as they fell behind 28-11 at the intermission, making just 19.2 percent (5 of 26) of their shots in the opening 20 minutes.

The point total marked an all-time low for any Seawolf team – one less than the 12 scored at Division I power Kentucky in 1980.

UAA came out of the locker room firing, however, scoring 11 points in the first 3:30 of the second half and cutting the ASU lead to 38-35 on a Bryant three-pointer at the 10:52 mark.

The Seawolves stayed within seven points of the Georgia school for the rest of the way, but could get no closer than three points.

Trailing 53-48 with under a minute left, Arts had a wide-open three-pointer rattle in and out, and the Jaguars grabbed the rebound, essentially ending UAA's last shot at the comeback.

The Seawolves finished the year with school records for most wins and fewest losses. UAA's 35 games played was also one of at least 20 school records set by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions.

Quarterfinals (Mar. 26): Seawolves Beat California 55-52

Carl Arts scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds and McCade Olsen made the go-ahead jumper with 27 seconds remaining to lift Alaska Anchorage to a 55-52 win over California (Penn.) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II tournament at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. Wednesday.

The fourth-ranked Seawolves (29-5) will play 10th-ranked Augusta State (26-6) Thursday in the semifinals (6 p.m. EDT).

The Georgia school beat Central Oklahoma 106-104 in double-overtime in their quarterfinal game. Winona State will play Bentley in Thursday's second semifinal contest.

The Seawolves came out sloppy at the start, falling behind 14-5 after eight minutes.

Freshman Kevin White helped spark UAA's comeback, however, with a layup, and Arts nailed a jumper to get the offense rolling. A putback layup by Arts gave UAA a 25-23 lead going into the locker room.

The Vulcans (28-6) quickly rallied at the start of the second half and took a 44-37 lead with 9:23 remaining. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champs then seemed to take control, going up 50-46 on reserve guard Theron Colao's back-to-back three-pointers with 5:36 left.

UAA, ranked fifth in the nation in points allowed per game, fought back with another tough defensive effort, holding Cal scoreless over the next five minutes.

Olsen, who had been held scoreless to that point, then knotted the game at 50-50 on a baseline jumper with 3:20 showing.

Still tied, Arts pulled down a rebound on the defensive end with less than 40 seconds to play. UAA went inside to Olsen, who made a strong post move and banked in a jump shot from about eight feet away in the lane.

After another Cal miss, Arts converted two free throws to go up 54-50 with 12 seconds showing.

Colao, who made five of 10 three-pointers and finished with 19 points, drove in for an uncontested layup with 3.8 seconds left to cut his team's deficit in half, and the Vulcans fouled Chris Bryant with 2.5 seconds on the clock.

Bryant, who had 11 points, made the first and missed the second, allowing the Vulcans one last chance. Colao got a good look from about 35 feet, but his desperation shot hit glass and rimmed off at the buzzer.

UAA, which also got 12 points and four assists from point guard Luke Cooper, earned the win largely at the free hrow stripe, where the Seawolves went 14 of 17, compared to Cal's three of four.

The Seawolves also did a tremendous defensive job on Vulcan star center Ron Banks, who was held to just four points on two of seven shooting.

UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said the plan was to stop Banks down low, even if it meant giving up a few outside jumpers.

“When teams are so good you can't let them go to their strengths, so that was worth it,” Osborne said. “We developed a good game plan over the last week and it worked. We got the (defensive) help down low and never let those guys get going.”

Osborne also commended his team for not panicking when it trailed late. “We talked early in the year about, ‘We're not always great, but we're always resilient,' ” he said. “And we just felt that if we could keep it close, we could get back in it and we could execute at the end.”

2008 NCAA Division II Men's West Regional

Championship Game (Mar. 17, 2008): Olsen, Arts Key Seawolves Victory

The Seawolves (28-5), the No. 1 seed, also got 11 assists from point guard Luke Cooper and 14 points from guard Chris Bryant to fight off a late charge by the seventh-seeded Seasiders (20-8).

UAA, ranked No. 4 nationally, now advances to Springfield, Mass., for the Elite Eight, Mar. 26-29. The Seawolves will play the winner of Tuesday's East Region final between top-seeded California ( Pa. ) and 6th -seeded Millersville.

Monday's game was a rematch of UAA's 95-90 double-overtime win in Laie, Hawaii, Dec. 17, and had just as much drama as the original meeting.

The Seasiders landed the first punch, jumping to an 8-0 lead before UAA called a timeout just four minutes into the action. The Seawolves rallied quickly, however, taking a 15-13 lead on Olsen's three-pointer with 10:53 showing.

After UAA got up 24-15, BYUH all-tournament selection Lucas Alves sparked a Seasider run, giving his team a 28-27 advantage. The Seawolves would take a 34-29 lead into the locker room when Arts, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds, nailed a fadeaway jumper from just inside the arc.

The Seawolves extended their lead to double digits on four different occasions in the second half, the last coming when Cameron Burney swished a three-pointer on a pass from Cooper at the nine-minute mark, making it 61-49.

But the Seasiders ran off seven straight points, including a vicious dunk by Alves, then cut the lead to 67-64 when point guard Corey Nielson drained his only three-pointer of the night with 2:27 left.

After Cooper made two free throws, Alves converted a traditional three-point play to slice the deficit to 69-67 and BYUH got the ball back with a chance to take the lead when Arts missed a pair of free throws.

UAA – ranked all season among the top 5 in D-II in scoring defense – used its bread-and-butter to earn the win. As the clock ran under 20 seconds, Nielson penetrated and looked for Alves, but his pass was deflected by Burney.

As the ball pin-balled around the baseline area, Arts found himself with possession but only as he was falling out of bounds. In a heads-up move, he spun and threw the ball off the leg of Alves, who was standing on the endline.

Olsen was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and calmly sank both free throws. The West Region Championships' Most Outstanding Player then grabbed the rebound of Paul Peterson's three-point miss and accounted for the final two charities with two seconds left as the sellout crowd gave a standing ovation.

Olsen also finished with a pair of steals Monday as he totaled 69 points, 14 rebounds, five steals and six assists in UAA's three regional-tourney victories. The 6-8 forward from Riverton , Utah , shot 58.5 percent from the floor (24 of 41) and was perfect on 17 free throws.

He was joined on the All-West Region Tournament Team by Arts and Cooper, and BYU's Peterson and Alves.

Alves, a 6-9 sophomore forward from Brazil , led the Seasiders with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss, while Peterson scored 12 points on four of seven three-point shooting.

For the Seawolves, Arts tallied his 10th double-double of the season, while Bryant went seven of seven from the free throw line. Reserve center Jeremiah Trueman scored 10 points on four of five shooting and had a pair of timely blocks.

UAA, which advanced to the national title game in 1988 in Springfield , will return there for the first time since then.

Semifinals (Mar. 15, 2008): Seawolves Beat Falcons To Advance To Title Game

UAA (27-5), the top seed, will meet seventh-seeded Brigham Young-Hawaii in Monday's 7 p.m. title game. The Seasiders eliminated Chaminade 83-62 in the other semifinal.

Olsen finished with a game-high 22 points on eight of 15 shooting, while forward Carl Arts had 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals as he played the entire 40 minutes.

SPU (21-8), the No. 5 seed, got 15 points and eight rebounds from center Rob Will, who gave the Falcons a 55-54 lead with 18 seconds left on a short jump shot.

The Seawolves called timeout at half court and were fouled twice by the Falcons – who had fouls to give – in the ensuing seconds, giving UAA an inbounds play on the baseline with 3.7 seconds showing.

Point guard Luke Cooper lobbed the ball to Olsen, who made a fake and rose for a 17-foot jumper in front of Will, drawing the foul on the SPU big man.

After an SPU timeout, Olsen – UAA's best free throw shooter at 81 percent – bounced the first charity around the rim three times before dropping in, then swished the second.

Without any timeouts, the Falcons were able to advance the ball about 50 feet to Will on the inbounds pass, but his long try bounced high off the backboard.

SPU, which also got 12 points and four assists from forward JoJay Jackson, had been one of just two Division II teams to beat the Seawolves this year, taking a 65-58 decision in Seattle on Mar. 1.

SPU's biggest lead in the first half was 16-10 and the Falcons took a 28-25 lead to the locker room when guard Chris Banchero went coast-to-coast for a layup at the buzzer.

A Will layup extended the visitors' advantage to 36-29 early in the second half before the Seawolves made their surge.

UAA took its first lead in 20 minutes when Cooper drained a three-pointer from the wing with 14:31 remaining, making it 38-37. The home team held its advantage between two and six points for the next 10 minutes, going up 52-46 on a Cooper layup with 4:18 left.

Consecutive layups by Will – SPU's first-team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference standout – cut it to 52-50 before Arts knocked down a fadeaway jumper at the 2:49 mark.

The Seawolves came up empty on their next three possessions, however, allowing SPU to take the lead again on Will's late basket.

It was a bizarre victory for the Seawolves, who got all of their points from just four players.

Cooper, the GNAC Player of the Year, had nine points and five assists, while fellow Aussie guard Kevin White scored six points.

Third-leading scorer Chris Bryant (13.9 ppg) was shut out in just 14 minutes of action, while fellow starter Cameron Burney didn't score but grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The victory gives UAA – the GNAC regular-season champ – its furthest advance in the NCAA Tournament since 1993 when it also reached the regional final. UAA reached the national final in 1988.

BYU-Hawaii 83, Chaminade 62

Forward Lucas Alves scored 18 points and point guard Corey Nielson had 15 points and six assists to lead seventh-seeded Brigham Young-Hawaii (20-7) into the title game with a 21-point win over PacWest champion Chaminade.

The Silverswords (21-8) were led by 17 points from guard Mike Green in the loss.

With the win, BYUH avenged an 0-3 mark against the Pacific West Conference regular-season champs.

The Seasiders also got 13 points from reserve guard Jeremy Brown, plus 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds from senior guard Paul Peterson.

Quarterfinals (Mar. 14, 2008): SPU Wins On Echols Buzzer Beater

The Falcons will play GNAC regular-season champion Alaska Anchorage in Saturday's second semifinal at 7:30. The Seawolves ousted CCAA tournament champion UC San Diego 80-60 ending an unproductive day for the California conference.

Earlier in the day Chaminade knocked off Humboldt State 68-60 and BYU-Hawaii beat Cal State San Bernardino 67-63 to set up an all Hawaii semifinal in Saturday's 5 p.m. contest.

Echols' game-winning shot tied him for team-high scoring honors with 12 points and ended the Central Washington's 10-game winning streak.

SPU (21-7) got 12 points from forward Casey Reed and 11 points from forward JoJay Jackson.

CWU (21-7), the runner-up in the GNAC, was led by forward Bryce Daub with 17 points and seven rebounds Reserve guard Giovonne Woods scored 14 points.

Neither team led by more than eight points the entire night, although SPU controlled the action for much of the second half.

The Falcons went on a dry spell from the floor, however, and CWU took the lead 55-53 with 4:08 remaining on a layup by Nate Jackson.

After an SPU three-pointer from point guard Jared Moultrie, the Wildcats again went ahead 57-56 on a pair of Daub free throws with 1:40 left.

CWU's Jake Beitinger blocked a Rob Will shot with 10 seconds remaining and Daub got the rebound, but after a 30-second timeout Woods missed the front end of a 1-and-1 as CWU finished four of 11 from the foul line.

After a timeout with 5.2 seconds left, Echols took the inbounds pass near midcourt and drove all the way around the three-point arc and towards the basket, where his five-footer dropped in almost simultaneously with the final buzzer.

Will, a first-team all-league center, had 13 rebounds and five assists for the winners.

Alaska Anchorage 80, UC San Diego 60

McCade Olsen scored a career-high 28 points and Carl Arts chipped in 21 points as UAa cruised to a 20-point victory.

UAA (26-5) also got 14 points and six rebounds from guard Chris Bryant, plus nine points and nine assists from point guard Luke Cooper as the Seawolves snapped a six-game NCAA tournament losing streak dating back to 1994.

UCSD (18-12) was led by 24 points from guard Jordan Lawley, who made eight of 13 shots.

After UC San Diego scored the first basket of the game, the Seawolves quickly showed why they were rated No. 1 in the West all winter, going on an 18-2 run to take control.

Arts was the difference in the first half, knocking down seven of eight shots from the field to propel his squad to a 39-26 halftime lead.

Olsen, who missed just two shots all night making 10 of 12 field goals and all seven of his free throws, scored the first seven points after the break to make it 46-26 and the Seawolves cruised from there.

The Riverton, Utah, native also had seven rebounds, three steals and a career-high four assists as UAA led by as many as 25 in the second half.

Arts finished 10 of 14 from the floor, while Bryant connected on four of six three-point tries and grabbed six boards.

Freshman guard Kevin White also made a nice contribution off the bench with six points (2-2 FG, 2-2 FT) and four rebounds as UAA outshot the Tritons 60.4 percent to 44.4 percent. The Seawolves also dominated the boards to the tune of 27-18.

With his performance, Arts moved from No. 5 to No. 3 on UAA's all-time scoring list, now with 1,476 points, passing Jesse Jackson (1,471, 1985-87) and Jim Hajdukovich (1,472, 1995-99).

Chaminade 68, Humboldt State 60

Big men Stewart Kussler and Marko Kolaric both delivered double-doubles to lead 25th-ranked Chaminade past Humboldt State.

Kussler had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Silverswords (21-7), while Kolaric tallied 15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.

The Lumberjacks (20-9), were led by 27 points and nine rebounds from West Region Player of the Year Devin Peal, while senior center Cy Vandermeer had nine points and 16 rebounds in his final game.

Peal shot 11 of 21 from the floor, but the rest of the Lumberjacks struggled to 11 of 47 shooting (23.4 percent).

HSU took its biggest lead of the game at 47-43 with 12:22 remaining, but the Honolulu squad rallied back with a 10-0 run and never trailed again.

Point guard Hayden Heiber was sharp for the Silverswords throughout, finishing with 12 points, eight assists and just a pair of turnovers in 40 minutes.

BYU-Hawaii 67, Cal State San Bernardino 63

Forwards Lucas Alves and Jermaine Odjegba scored 16 points apiece as seventh-seed Brigham Young-Hawaii used a late rally to knock off No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino.

Alves also had 10 rebounds for the Seasiders (19-7). Guard Marlon Pierce scored 13 points and back-court mate Lance Ortiz scored 11 for defending region champ CSUSB (22-8).

Ortiz hit a three-pointer to put the Coyotes up 55-53 with 4:15 remaining, and center Michael Earl added a free throw 30 seconds later to give the CCAA regular-season co-champs a three-point lead.

But the Seasiders got a rebound put-back from Odjegba and a fast-break layin from Jeremy Brown to start an 8-0 run and put the underdogs ahead for good.

Ortiz's trey with 52 seconds left made it 63-62, however that was as close as the Coyotes would get.

BYUH sealed the game from the free throw line as point guard Corey Nielson sank a pair with 11 seconds left to account for the final margin.

CSUSB came into the game ranked No. 14 in the NABC Division II Top 25 poll, the second-highest ranked team in the regional behind No. 4 UAA.