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March 9, 2008

Seasiders Get NCAA Bid

Lucas Alves will lead the Seasiders into the NCAA II Tournament this week

Laie, HI—The Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s basketball team received an at-large bid to the NCAA II National Tournament today and will enter the West Regional in Anchorage, Alaska as the number seven seed. In an unusual twist of déjà vu, the Seasiders, 18-7 for the season and the second-place team in the Pacific West Conference, will face California Collegiate Athletic Association member Cal State-San Bernardino (22-7) in the tournament’s opening game on Friday. The Seasiders and Coyotes received identical seeds last season and met in an opening round game won by the Coyotes, who went on to the elite eight, by a 71-68 score.

Other teams and match-ups in the tournament include number three seed Chaminade (20-7) taking on number six Humboldt State (20-8), number four Central Washington (21-6) facing number five Seattle Pacific (20-7), and number eight UC-San Diego (18-11) playing host and number one seed Alaska-Anchorage (25-5). Game times will be announced later.

Semifinal games will be played on Saturday with the opening session winners, which would include BYU-Hawaii should the Seasiders get by CSUSB, playing first and the second session winners meeting later. The championship game will take place on Monday, March 17th.

BYU-Hawaii did not face Cal State-San Bernardino this season, nor have they played Humboldt State or UC-San Diego. The Seasiders lost to Seattle Pacific on a buzzer-beater, to Alaska-Anchorage in double overtime, and three times, by four, six, and two points, to Chaminade. BYU–Hawaii defeated Central Washington in overtime this season. The Seasiders also defeated two other teams selected for regional berths this season. Florida Southern and Tampa, who received the number one and number three seeds in the South region, both lost to the Seasiders by double digits this season.

Cal State-San Bernardino tied for first place in the CCAA regular season but was upset in the first round of the CCAA Tournament by eventual winner UC-San Diego. Prior to the tournament loss the Coyotes were ranked 13th nationally. The Seasiders and Coyotes have played two common opponents this season in Seattle Pacific and Central Washington. CSUSB defeated Seattle Pacific by four on the road and beat Central Washington by 23 on a neutral floor.