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Season
| November 30, 2007 Seasiders Soar in Season Opener
Ellensburg, WA—The 20th-ranked Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s basketball team soared past Western Oregon tonight, 107-77, in the first game of the Wildcat Classic basketball tournament in Ellensburg, Washington. The Seasiders built on a 54-33 halftime lead and finished their first game of the year with an impressive 30-point victory. The Seasiders extended their halftime lead to 30 points early in the second half but the Wolves got hot with their shooting midway through the period to close within 13 points with just over ten minutes left in the game, until the Seasiders picked up the pace and pulled away again. The BYU–Hawaii trio of big men, sophomore Lucas Alves, junior Jermaine Odjegba, and senior Micah Casey were too much for the Wolves to handle in this game, combining for 57 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocked shots on the night. Alves led the way, scoring 26 points while pulling down eight rebounds in just 20 minutes of play. Odjegba tallied 21 points and was clutch in making shots late in the game when the Wolves were attempting to make a comeback. He also blocked a game-high three shots. Casey, a Kahuku High School graduate, came off the bench to score a career-high ten points on 4-5 shooting while adding four boards in 14 minutes of play. Junior transfer Nate Sims dropped in 15 points on 7-10 shooting and grabbed seven boards off the bench and Paul Peterson added ten points. Corey Nielson dished out an impressive game-high nine assists and grabbed seven rebounds while teammate Trenson Akana totaled 14 points on 3-6 shooting for the game. Overall, the Seasiders’ victory was a great team effort that saw six players scoring in double figures while the Seasiders out-rebounded the Wolves 36-27 for the game, including an outstanding 17 offensive boards on the night. Sam Kelly had 24 points and Brad Krichevsky added 23 to lead Western Oregon. The Wolves, who upset 18th-ranked Montevallo last week, dropped to 2-2 for the season with the loss. Western Oregon turned the ball over 24 times to just nine times for the Seasiders. The Wolves starting big men, 7’-3” Liam Hughes and 6’-8” Travis Kuhns were outscored by Alves and Odjegba 47-13 in the game. BYU–Hawaii’s next game will be tomorrow night against tournament host Central Washington in Ellensburg. Tip-off will be at 7:30 pm PST.
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