Welcome to a special edition of the Week in Review. This edition is for the 2007 NCAA Division II West Region Championship. We will look back at the action that took place on Day 1 of the tournament. Included in this analysis will be some commentary on the games. We will also look ahead to tonight's semifinal action from the East Gym. On that note, let's look back at the action from Friday's games in the West Regional Championships.
Game # 1: # 6 Seattle vs. # 3 Cal Poly Ponoma: The first game of the day pitted # 6 Seattle University, the co-champions and the automatic entry from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, against # 3 Cal Poly Ponoma, an at large team from the California Collegiate Athletic Association. For the highlights from this game, we will go to the Seattle Times, the Times Standard, and the Eureka Reporter.
Story from the Seattle Times:
Redhawks rally for NCAA victory
ARCATA, Calif. — A combination of senior leadership and freshman athleticism helped Seattle University defeat Cal Poly Pomona 69-55 Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament.
Freshman Ricky Berry shot 6 of 7 from the field, including two three-pointers, to lead the Redhawks with 16 points. Classmate Chris Gweth scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half to help the Redhawks come back from a seven-point deficit.
Seniors Ryan Webb and Sam Kirby each had eight points and four rebounds, with Webb also dishing out a game-high eight assists. David White contributed seven points, eight rebounds and a key block in the second half.
"In the second half, I was just trying to make sure that they [Berry and Gweth] were getting their shots because they had the hot hands," Webb said. "Even when we were down seven, I did not see any signs of timid play in any of my teammates."
Down 45-38 in the second half, the Redhawks scored the next seven points to tie the score, and White scored on a dunk to give Seattle the lead for good, as the Redhawks outscored the Broncos 18-4 over the last 6:28 of the game.
Larry Gordon led Cal Poly Pomona (20-8) with 23 points, 14 in the second half. The Broncos shot just 21.9 percent in the second half, including 2 of 16 from behind the three-point line.
Story from the Times Standard:
Berry Good: Pair of freshmen lead Seattle to victory
Brad Botkin/The Times-Standard
ARCATA -- Heading into Friday's Division II West Regional first-round matchup against Cal Poly Pomona, Seattle University head coach Joe Callero secretly liked his team's chances for a few reasons, but one in particular: senior leadership.
And while he certainly received plenty of that veteran resolve from point guards Ryan Webb and Sam Kirby, it was a pair of freshman who, down the stretch, played beyond their years as Seattle defied their No. 6 seed by defeating the No. 3 seeded Pomona Broncos 69-55.
With the victory, the Redhawks advance to the second round where they will face San Bernardino, which narrowly escaped BYU-Hawaii's upset bid, 71-68 in the second game of the day. Pomona, on the other hand, finishes its season at 20-8.
Freshmen Ricky Berry, who led Seattle with 16 points including a pair of 3-pointers, and Chris Gweth, who finished with 14, were fantastic, when it mattered most.
Leading 45-38 after a Kevin Neveu layup with 12:59 remaining in somebody's season, Pomona looked to be within one or two possessions of pulling away. However, Seattle drew upon a previous experience to muster the necessary resiliency to get off the ropes.
Coach Callero referenced a particularly pivotal moment that in Seattle season, a loss to Western Washington in which the Redhawks squandered a huge lead. He feels at that moment, his team found its identity.
He wasn't kidding.
Seattle had won seven consecutive games on the heels of that loss heading into Friday, and sticking with the same disciplined game plan that has become its crutch, Seattle promptly erased that seven-point lead (courtesy of a Gweth triple and a 3-point play the old-fashioned way from Berry, and never looked back -- exploding on a 31-10 run to end the game in impressive fashion.
"It wasn't until we were down seven that we threw some different (defensive) looks at (Pomona)," said Callero. "We went to the 1-3-1 (zone), and it was just a shot in the arm."
Consequently, the perimeter shots that were falling for Pomona in the first half, were not in the second half -- to the tune of 22 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes.
"It was a well-played game," said Pomona head coach Greg Kamansky, in reference to the fact that each team held its turnover total to eight, and for the most part got the shots they wanted. "We just didn't hit our shots. We only made seven baskets in the second half, and you don't win too many games that way. But they were good shots, that's the thing. It just wasn't our night."
Pomona's lethal combination of Larry Gordon and Dion Cook combined for 38 points (Gordon 23 and Cook 15), but no other Bronco managed to score more than six.
On the other hand, Seattle had nine players tally points, and was balanced throughout.
The point guard extraordinaires each had 8 points, but it was their ability to distribute and be an extension of their coach on the floor that highlighted the leadership Callero thought would be so vital.
"What Sam and Ryan did tonight is that they didn't care who scored the baskets," said Callero. "You have to be humble enough to let someone else shine."
And shine those two youngsters did.
"I was a little nervous at first," said Berry. "But we have strong seniors, we look up to Ryan (Webb), and when I'm shooting well he gets me the ball."
Webb never lost confidence in his troops, even in the face of that seven-point deficit. And what further proves his faith in his team, Webb was on the bench when that 31-10 run began.
But when he came back, you knew who was in charge.
"I never once looked in my teammates' eyes and sensed any (panic)," said Webb. "That's key when you're going through adversity."
Story from the Eureka Reporter:
Seattle comes back to top Pomona
by Sean Quincey
A pair of freshmen led Seattle in scoring and the sixth-seeded Falcons' used a second half switch in their defensive game plan to defeat No. 3 seed Cal Poly Pomona 69-55 in the first round of the Division II West Regional Tournament in Arcata on Friday.
The victory is Seattle's first in the postseason since 1994 when it was an NAIA school and is the program's first-ever NCAA playoff win.
The Falcons (20-8) advanced to the semifinals and will play No. 2 seed San Bernardino, which beat No. 7 BYU-Hawaii 71-68, today at 5 p.m.
Seattle went to a three-quarter court press midway through the second period when it trailed by seven points. Pomona was already struggling — the Broncos shot 22 percent in the second half — and buried itself when Seattle's Ryan Colderon picked off a pass and found Sam Kirby for a 3-pointer with 4:48 left. The trey gave the Falcons a five-point and broke open an otherwise tight game.
"All week we talked about having two defenses to throw at them," Seattle head coach Joe Callero said. "It wasn't until we were down seven that we moved into our 1-3-1 and our press. That just gave us a shot in the arm."
Pomona's leading scorer on the season, Dion Cook, scored all 15 of his points in the first half and went cold in the second. Power forward Kaelen Daniels couldn't convert down low and when the Broncos (20-8) kicked the ball outside, like Cook, they couldn't find the bucket.
"We just played into their hands," Cook said. "We weren't aggressive enough getting to the line. We didn't go inside. We stayed outside and settled for jumpers."
Seattle came back twice from deficits of five points or more but led 31-29 at the half
Ricky Berry led Seattle with 16 points and Chris Gweth provided a spark in the second half and finished with 14 points and three rebounds in 19 minutes of work.
The Falcons 6-foot-1 senior Ryan Webb directed a crisp offense with laser-quick touch passes and matched up with the 6-4 Cook on defense for much of the game. Webb finished with 8 points and 8 assists while Kirby, who was the team's regular season scoring leader, produced his only field goal on the late three-pointer.
"When guys are hot and they're trying to carry the team on their back, you've got to get them the ball," Webb said, referring to Berry and Gweth.
Commentary: When I look at this game, I thought Cal Poly Ponoma would be the better team in this match up. The Broncos had some talented players in Dion Cook and Larry Gordon; however, they needed some help to give Cal Poly Ponoma a shot to win this game. Plus, shooting 22% in the second half will not help any team, including the Broncos, win a game.
I think Seattle was the more of a team in this game. Ricky Barry kept Seattle in the game in the first half with his shooting. Chris Gweth picked up the slack in the second half. A lot of credit needs to go to Ryan Webb. While Webb only got 8 point, he got 8 assists in the win. The last point on Seattle, they won that game in the second half with their defensive intensity and their ability to hit the big shot, like the one Sam Kirby hit with under five minutes left to give the Redhawks a five point lead. It was still a close game after that shot, but Seattle hit their free throws and won the game by a margin wide than what the game was played on the court.
A final note on this game, there were 14 ties and 7 lead changes in the contest. That was a very good game to start the tournament.
Game # 2: # 7 BYU-Hawaii vs. # 2 Cal State San Bernardino: The second game pitted # 7 BYU-Hawaii, an at large from the Pacific West Conference and the # 2 Cal State San Bernardino, an at large from the California Collegiate Athletic Association. For the highlights, let's go the San Bernardino Sun (a sister newspaper to the Times Standard) and the Eureka Reporter.
Story from the San Bernardino Sun/Times Standard:
Coyotes move on to semis
Brad Botkin, Correspondent
ARCATA - The Cal State San Bernardino men's basketball team survived a scare.
The Coyotes, who many feel are the odds-on favorites to advance to the NCAA Division II West Regional championship game ran into a BYU-Hawaii team that had a different agenda.
But Cal State made just enough plays down the stretch to narrowly avoid the upset, escaping with a 71-68 victory in the first round on Friday.
"They did a tremendous job the whole game," Cal State coach Jeff Oliver said. "I thought we played well defensively pretty much the entire game. ... We're very fortunate to have come out on top."
The Coyotes play Seattle University in the semifinals today.
All-West Region guard Prentice Harris, who led the Coyotes with 18 points, hit a pull-up 3-pointer in transition with 1:46 remaining to give the Coyotes a 69-67 lead they would never relinquish.
"That was a big shot, but I was just lucky to be in that position," Harris said. "CJ (Chet Johnson) got me the ball at the right moment."
It looked as if Harris may have shuffled his feet before the shot, but when Harris was questioned about the non-call, he charismatically said: "I plead the fifth."
Good enough.
Following Harris' clutch shot, Hawaii - which shot 62 percent from the field - had its 58.3 percent free-throw shooting and turnover-prone offense catch up with them.
Wu Tai-hao missed two consecutive free throws with an opportunity to tie or take back the lead. Still, Hawaii had possession with 18 seconds remaining, the shot clock turned off, and trailing by one.
BYU-Hawaii got only a desperation 3-point attempt as time ran out.
"I tried to call a timeout before that turnover," BYU-Hawaii head coach Ken Wagner said. "Unfortunately they couldn't hear me. But you can always look back after a game and find five or six things (you'd like to change)."
In the end, it was simply Cal State's superior athleticism, namely Harris and Ivan Johnson, who scored 16 points and had five rebounds.
"Our ball pressure created some turnovers and our execution was better down the stretch," Oliver said.
For BYU-Hawaii, Eric Boyce finished with four 3-pointers among his 18 points; Tai-hao and Lucas Alves each had 13.
"If anybody thought they were going to come in here and have an easy game, they were sorely mistaken," Oliver said. "Everyone is here for a reason."
Story from the Eureka Reporter:
Coyotes live another day
by Jackie Christensen
The Coyotes lived up to their name Friday afternoon and survived dire circumstances — together.
No. 2 San Bernardino overcame 34 minutes of punishment in the post and escaped a six-point deficit with less than six minutes to go to beat No. 7 BYU Hawaii 71-68 in the second quarterfinal of the NCAA Division II Men's West Regional Tournament at Humboldt State.
With the victory, the Coyotes advance to today's semifinal against No. 6 Seattle at 5 p.m.
"(Hawaii) did a tremendous job and had us on our heels pretty much the whole game," said San Bernardino head coach Jeff Oliver. "We were definitely fortunate to come out on top."
The Seasiders' 6-foot-9 forwards Wu Tai-hao and Lucas Alves combined for 22 points, five blocked shots and 12 rebounds, while 3-point assassin Eric Boyce (a 46 percent shooter from beyond the arc, 68-146) hit four of 10 3s and scored a team-high 18 points. But Hawaii was its own worst enemy.
The Seasiders coughed up 31 turnovers, two of them in the final two minutes, and didn't score a basket during that stretch.
Trailing by three points with 2:20 remaining, San Bernardino went on a 7-2 run to end the game with Prentice Harris scoring five of their final points.
According to Oliver, the difference was all in defensive pressure.
"Our hats go off to BYU, their boys did a tremendous job, but we did a good job of turning our pressure back up," he said. "When we were pressuring the ball, we played well, and what we did behind the basketball led to some key turnovers and easy baskets."
Harris finished with a team-high 18 points, including three 3s, while center Ivan Johnson finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals.
The Coyotes had 14 steals in the game.
"They did a great job pressuring us," said BYU head coach Greg Wagner. "We made some crucial mistakes down the stretch because we're inexperienced inside, but we lost because San Bernardino just took care of business."
Alves, who committed seven turnovers, is just a freshman, and the Seasiders' other post players, Tai-hao, who had five turnovers, and 6-7 Jermaine Odjegba, are only sophomores.
"I'm very proud of the guys," Wagner said. "After everything they've been through this year, they really worked hard. We have some great shooters and I felt we had a chance to win, but unfortunately we came up a little short."
With the win, the Coyotes improved their overall record to 23-5, while the Seasiders end the year at 20-8.
Commentary: This game was a sloppy game from beginning to end. The teams combined for 53 turnovers in the contest. Could it be nerves? Could it be the level of competition? I don't know. All I have to say is that BYU-Hawaii played a whale of a game against a team who I thought was going to blow them out of the East Gym from the opening tip.
I said earlier in the day that BYU-Hawaii would have to hit about 10 three point shots to win this game. They hit nine and they needed that tenth one to send the game into overtime. Other than that, I was impressed with the defense that the Seasiders threw against the Coyotes. BYU-Hawaii had Cal State San Bernardino confused for most of the game. I think the downfall was that BYU-Hawaii made too many mistakes down the stretch plus on top of that too many missed shots/opportunities. When you have a team on the ropes, you need to finish the job.
For Cal State San Bernardino, they did their job. Survive and advance. That is the premise of this tournament. To win the regional championship and ultimately the national championship, you are going to face games where you just need to survive and advance. Prentice Harris hit a big shot late in the game to give the Coyotes the lead and that is what clutch players do late in game, hit the big shot. Marlon Pierce did it at Chico State. Yesterday, it was Prentice Harris.
In closing, Cal State San Bernardino did what they needed to do yesterday. Win. We will see tonight what they got in store against Seattle University.
Game # 3 # 5 Grand Canyon vs. # 4 Seattle Pacific: The third game of the day pitted # 5 Grand Canyon, the champion from the Pacific West Conference (they are an at large team since the Pacific West does not have an automatic berth this year) against the # 4 Seattle Pacific, the co-champions and at large team from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. For the highlights from this game, we go to the Seattle Times, the Times Standard, and the Eureka Reporter.
Story from the Seattle Times:
Grand Canyon 87, Seattle Pacific 65
For a squad that relies on having the hot hand, Seattle Pacific picked a rotten time to go cold.
Instead, it was Grand Canyon that put on an efficient shooting performance to bounce the Falcons from the NCAA Division II tournament in Arcata, Calif.
Bryan Lee pumped in 23 points and Randy Bogan had 18 for the Antelopes (21-7).
Dustin Bremerman capped his stellar career with 22 points for the Falcons (18-10), who were eliminated in the first round a year after reaching the national semifinals.
Nearly five minutes into the second half, the Falcons were within 48-44 when the Antelopes lowered the boom. Grand Canyon converted on six of its next seven possessions, while SPU missed four shots and committed three turnovers.
"We had hung in there, but then it just snowballed there for about five minutes," said Falcons coach Jeff Hironaka. "They were scoring at will."
A late surge closed the gap to 77-63 with 3:13 left, but Seattle Pacific never scored another field goal.
The Falcons mustered just 39 percent (22-56) shooting, their second-poorest display of the season.
Rob Will scored just two points on 1 of 6 shots for SPU. He averaged 13.4 in the regular season.
Story from the Times Standard:
Antelopes Faster Than Falcons
Neil Tarpey/The Times-Standard
ARCATA-- What's the difference between Division I and Division II men's basketball?
"There are more high-quality big men in Division I," said Grand Canyon University head coach Scott Mossman after his Antelopes beat Seattle Pacific 87-65 in Friday's NCAA regional game.
Mossman's team took advantage of their agility and quickness to neutralize the Falcons big man, 6-foot-10 Robbie Will, holding the center to just two points and five rebounds in his 15 minutes of playing time.
"They were much quicker in the post," said Seattle Pacific head coach Jeff Hironaka, "and Robbie got frustrated which led to him getting into foul trouble."
The Falcons trailed by only two points, 34-32, at intermission, but with Will on the bench much of the second half, Grand Canyon's transition game flourished, and its defenders prevented Seattle Pacific from many good shot opportunities.
The game was still tight, with Grand Canyon leading 48-44, when the Antelopes' Rudy Bogan sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a Bryan Lee layup to expand their advantage to 56-44.
Seattle Pacific's season then took a deep dive, as the Falcons went ice cold, misfiring on layups, 3-point attempts, jumpers and turning the ball over several times.
"We weren't even getting a good shot," said Hironaka.
Their offense went a stretch of 5:10 without scoring a point.
Meanwhile, the Antelopes' offense passed crisply to find the open shooter, in one instance using six passes to find Richard Davis who hit a long 3-pointer before the shot clock wound down.
"We understand where we wanted to get the ball," said Davis, crediting his teammates for their unselfish passes.
When Seattle Pacific's Rob Diederichs tossed in a layup to break the cold spell, the Antelopes had built up a 64-46 lead.
But then, to squash any Falcons hope of a comeback, Grand Canyon's Lee accelerated the Antelope's offense into another gear.
Lee hit a spinner in the lane, saved a ball from going out by flicking it back to Bogan for a layup, and then grabbed an offensive board for a putback basket.
And don't forget his two dunks in the closing minutes, including an exclamation point when he was too casually guarded and drove in from the top of the key.
Lee was the game's top scorer (23), rebounder (8), and shot blocker (3).
The Grand Canyon offense shot an incredible 71 percent of its second half shots, hitting 22 of 31 attempts.
Their attack was well balanced, as Bogan finished with 18 points, Davis contributed 16 points and seven rebounds, and Ladi Makinde scored 15, including seven in a two minute span in the first half.
Speaking of the first half, the Falcons Dustin Bremerman kept his team close by scoring 15 points, including two 3-pointers.
"We had a lot of respect for him (Bremerman) coming in to the game," said Mossman. "We were a little late getting to him off their screens."
Bremerman finished with 22 points, despite frequently being guarded by two Antelopes.
"He's one of the greats in Seattle Pacific history," said Hironaka about Bremerman. "He's a future Hall of Famer."
Falcon teammate JoJay Jackson, who scored 15 points, was the only other Falcon in double digits.
Seattle Pacific ends its season at 18-10, while Grand Canyon improves to 21-7 as it heads into its 7:30 p.m. game tonight against No. 1 seed Humboldt State.
Story from the Eureka Reporter:
A Grand Canyon-size win
by Bryan DeMain
No. 4 Seattle Pacific had no answer for Grand Canyon's quickness and athleticism in the opening round of the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships in the East Gym on Friday.
No. 5 GCU (21-7) used its dribble-drive penetration to set up high-percentage shots from the field, and as a result, the Antelopes shot 71 percent as a team in the second half and 63 percent for the game, to knock out the GNAC champs 87-65.
"We felt we could run out on them and that set us up with some easy buckets," said Grand Canyon head coach Scott Mossman. "We've been really blessed this year, because we can shoot the ball well from anywhere on the court."
GCU will face No. 1 Humboldt State today at 7:30 p.m. in the semifinals.
Both teams started out slow, but it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before the 'Lopes athleticism took over.
Seattle Pacific's first two buckets of the game marked the Falcons' only lead of the contest.
Within minutes, GCU's Richard Davis forced the Falcons to come out and guard him, and then he capitalized.
Davis drained a 3-pointer to put the 'Lopes up by four, then one minute later he drove to the rim and scored, giving his team an 11-5 lead.
"He's a phenomenal player for us," Mossman said. "He does so much for this team."
Davis certainly did his share against the Falcons. The senior scored 16 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
The unstoppable force for GCU, however, was senior post player Bryan Lee.
Lee led the team, shooting 10-for-15 for 23 points, while grabbing eight rebounds and adding three blocks, one of which set the tone for the second half, sending SPU's Dustin Bremerman to the ground in transition.
Bremerman kept Seattle Pacific (18-10) alive in the first half, scoring 15 points, but was virtually shut down in the second period.
He finished with 23 points, while teammate JoJay Jackson contributed 15 for SPU.
Seattle Pacific shot a dismal 39 percent for the game, which in large part assisted Grand Canyon in its 22-7 run midway through the final period.
"Unfortunately, I thought we played their style of basketball," said Seattle Pacific head coach Jeff Hironaka. "It's a difficult pill to swallow, but give credit to them, they played very hard."
Rudy Bogan was another pain in the side of Seattle Pacific. The junior finished with 18 points, while teammate Ladi Makinde added 15.
Commentary: Looking at this game, I said I would not be surprised if Grand Canyon won this game. When I said that, I thought the game would be close to the end. Instead the 'Lopes took it to the Falcons in this game.
The game was close throughout the first half but the turning point of the game was when Robbie Will picked up his fourth foul. That is when Grand Canyon made their run. I think it was a good strategy to try to get Will into foul trouble. What it did was that it made Seattle Pacific a smaller team overall. You take a big man out of the game and make your opponent smaller that is an advantage that you created. Richard Davis had a solid game and the player of the game in my book was Bryan Lee. Those two players took over the game in the second half and gave no shot for a comeback by Seattle Pacific.
For Seattle Pacific, you look at their team, it is a different team than the one that made it to the Final Four last year before losing to eventual champion, Winona State. I'll say this, Seattle Pacific will still be a force in the West even with this loss. The name in itself shows how much of a powerhouse they are in this region. They will be back in the regional. They are just too good to leave them at home each year.
To close, Grand Canyon had the answers last night, especially in the second half when they shot 71% from the field, can they have the answers again tonight? We will find out.
Game # 4: # 8 Alaska Anchorage vs. # 1 Humboldt State: The final game of the day pitted # 8 Alaska Anchorage, an at large team from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference against the # 1 seed and host institution, Humboldt State, the champions from the California Collegiate Athletic Association. For the highlights from this game, we go to the Anchorage Daily News, the Times Standard, and the Eureka Reporter.
Story from the Anchorage Daily News:
So close: Seawolves let Lumberjacks score the final nine points
By VAN WILLIAMS
Anchorage Daily News
The Seawolves did everything it took to win -- playing without their best player for the entire second half, hitting clutch shots and getting contributions from the bench.
But in the end, nationally ranked Humboldt State wore down the UAA men's basketball team to post a 68-61 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The fourth-ranked Lumberjacks extended their home winning streak to 15 games, advancing to the semifinals of the West Regional in Arcata, Calif.
Humboldt State (24-4) scored the game's final nine points, with six coming from Will Sheufelt, to rally before a delighted sold-out crowd at the East Gym. The California Collegiate Athletic Association champions and the regional No. 1 seed also made two huge defensive plays late, stealing the ball twice to thwart potential baskets.
UAA controlled the game for most of the second half, despite playing without leading scorer and rebounder Carl Arts, who injured his hip sometime in the first half.
His absence was missed. The 6-foot-6 forward from Valdez drained 9 of 11 shots and scored 21 points in the opening 20 minutes before being forced to sit.
Stepping up in his place was senior Eric Draper (10 points), Buddy Bailey (nine points), Cameron Burney (nine points) and McCade Olsen (seven points, eight rebounds). Ivan Platenik also provided five points and took two charges in the final five minutes.
Bailey, of Wasilla by way of Anchorage, scored on back-to-back drives, with the second one giving the Seawolves (19-9) their last lead at 61-59 with three minutes left. From there, the game quickly got away from UAA.
Sheufelt (nine points) scored in the post to tie it at 61 before UAA missed a shot and was whistled for the foul on the rebound. That led to a pair of free throws from Sheufelt.
Then Kevin Johnson -- the reigning CCAA Most Valuable Player -- stole the ball, leading to Jeremiah Ward's layup to make it 65-61. Ward stole the ball on the following possession, saving it before falling out of bounds.
UAA has struggled to win close games all year, but losing Arts was a major blow. He was nearly unstoppable in the first half, bagging 21 points before halftime to propel UAA to a 38-33 advantage.
Arts was already playing hurt, wearing a protective facemask after breaking his cheekbone in two places two weeks ago. He stood near the bench and watched the second half with a pack of ice on his injured hip.
Even with its junior star out, UAA kept pressure on the favored home team.
The East Gym crowd was incredibly loud on Friday's radio broadcast on the Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network (AM-550), so much so that play-by-play man Kelly Thompson turned off the crowd microphone. And you could still barely hear him.
Nonetheless, the Seawolves were not intimidated. They were the last team to knock off the Lumberjacks in Arcata -- a 98-78 decision last season -- and carried their lead well into the second half. Humboldt State went up 53-52 for only a moment before Bailey answered with a three-pointer.
The teams exchanged the lead until Humboldt State took control down the stretch, preventing the Seawolves from winning the program's first NCAA playoff game since 1993.
Story from the Times Standard:
Survival!: Jacks avoid first-round exit
Brad Botkin/The Times-Standard
Well folks -- exhale.
That's the sound that just reverberated clear to the land of the midnight sun -- the collective exhale of the entire North Coast, as the Humboldt State men's basketball team, with a season, and careers on the line, dug deep in their gut and pulled out an absolutely thrilling 68-61 over the Seawolves of Alaska Anchorage in the first round of the Division II Western Regional tournament.
With the win, HSU gets Grand Canyon in tonight's second semifinal game at 7:30 p.m., meaning this celebration lasted until about the end of the buzzer. Now it's time to do all over again.
I say this game was thrilling only because it's the only word I can think of that even comes close to doing justice to the deafening noise and pulsating buzz that permeated the East Gym for this one.
But truth be told, there are really no words to describe it. It was completely insane. Insane, even for the clinically insane East Gym.
"I think that was as loud as I've ever heard it," said head coach Tom Wood, who earned the 400th victory of his coaching career.
Also, Kevin Johnson was named the Western Region's player of the year on Friday, and in an effort worthy of that title, KJ came up with what was undoubtedly the play of the game.
The game was going back-and-forth, with nobody seeming able to establish any kind of separation. For the final 15 minutes, every possession had the feel of the final possession of the game. You could literally feel the entire gym sitting on pins and needles.
And so, having just taken a 63-61 lead on a pair of clutch Will Sheufelt free throws, KJ jumped the passing lane for the steal of his life, and subsequently pushed the ball into the frontcourt before dropping it off to a trailing Jeremiah Ward for the layup., and more importantly, a four-point lead with 1:41 remaining.
No sooner had that ball gone through the net than the already crazed crowd sent the roof heavenward. In unison, 1400 plus came to their feet, and in one rush of energy unlike anything I've ever felt, simply lost their minds.
"I did not want my career to end tonight," said KJ.
And he played like it. He did what superstars do, he made the play when it mattered most.
Similarly, fellow senior Ward, connected on a 3-pointer with just over six minutes left to give Humboldt another 4-point lead. At the time, because of the aforementioned importance of every possession, the shot was enormous.
At this time of year, your seniors have to step to the forefront. Humboldt's did, and they're going to get to play again because of it.
And Devin Peal. What can you say about Devin Peal? Throughout the game, Peal was not only defending Alaska's Carl Arts, which was a full-time job in itself, but was getting hounded by Anchorage's entire interior defense.
But he never quit. Humboldt Kept going down low, kept giving he and KJ opportunities to win this game. And they answered, as Peal, who played like a man who flat refused to lose, muscled up for a team-high 19 of the toughest points imaginable.
"I just wanted to be consistent," said Peal. I felt like if I got touches I was going to put the ball in the hole. And now we have a chance to play (today), and that was the goal."
Coming in as the No. 8 seed, Alaska Anchorage, most notably Carl Arts, stormed out of the gates to take a 38-33 lead into halftime. Arts torched the Jacks in the first half for 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, but a hip pointer that he suffered when he and KJ collided late in the opening half forced him out of the game just five minutes into the second half.
"I threw a bunch of different (defensive) looks at him," said Peal, who guarded Arts. "But he had an answer for every one of them."
Had Arts been able to play, who knows what would have happened. But Anchorage was quick to accept responsibility, and as championship-caliber teams do, made no excuses.
"I think it really hurt us late in the game," said Alaska head coach Rusty Osborne.
"It's no secret that we go to Carl in those types of situations. But that's not an excuse. We put five guys out there and they put five guys out there, and (HSU) deserved to win."
As has become the trademark of this Jacks team, it was again a team effort, as Peal's effort notwithstanding, no one person stood out. It just seemed that when a play needed to be made, someone made it. Period.
Point guard Will Sheufelt was again, subtly fantastic, scoring nine points while consistently orchestrating the offense. Ward had 12, KJ 11 and 12 boards, Moyer 6, and big Cy Vandermeer, who finished with 6, was as usual bigger than his numbers indicate. Vandermeer was in the thick of a mid-second half run that got HSU back in a game that was threatening to get away from them.
This Alaska team was no joke, confirmed by Jacks assistant coach Bobby Robertson's comment to me following the game. "That was not a No. 8 seed."
Actually Bobby, yes it was. That's just how good this West Region tournament is.
The first day was a resounding success, with four fantastic games for the fans, who so richly deserve this reward for all their support.
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"I believe the crowd played a big part in this win," said Wood. "We don't lose much (at home), and a lot of that has to do with these outstanding players, but the crowd never let us quit tonight. We were not going to roll over and die, we owe (the fans) too much for that."
Story from the Eureka Reporter:
Jacks squeak by
by Ray Hamill
It wasn't necessarily pretty, but when all was said and done, a packed and very loud East Gym didn't appear to mind that much.
Hosting the NCAA Division II West Region Championships for the first time ever, Humboldt State opened the single elimination tourney with a hard-fought 68-61 win over Alaska Anchorage Friday night.
In a battle of former conference rivals, the Jacks led for less than five minutes the entire game, but they somehow made sure they led for the important ones.
Senior Kevin Johnson was a rock all night for the Jacks, finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds, his 20th double-double of the year and 40th for his career.
Devin Peal also stepped up huge for the Jacks, who eventually wore down a stubborn Anchorage team that came into the tournament as the eighth seed out of eight teams.
That fact certainly didn't seem to faze the Seawolves, who could very well have pulled out the win but for the fact they lost their best player, Carl Arts, early in the second half to a hip injury.
Arts was unstoppable in the first half, nailing 9-of-11 shots for 20 first-half points.
Despite missing almost the entire second half, Arts still finished with a game-high 21 points.
"We knew he was a tough assignment coming in," Peal said. "I gave him a couple of different looks and he had an answer for every thing I gave him."
Peal paced the Jacks in scoring with 19 points, while teammate Jeremiah Ward added 12 points, including a couple of key 3s.
The Jacks, however, will only go as far as their inside game takes them, and that was obvious Friday night.
With the win, the Jacks (25-3) advance to play Grand Canyon (21-7) in the second of today's semifinals at 7:30 p.m.
No. 5 Grand Canyon had the most comfortable win of the opening day, defeating Seattle Pacific 87-65 on the strength of 71 percent shooting in the second half.
In earlier action, No. 2 seed Cal State San Bernardino (23-5) edged by BYU Hawaii 71-68 to advance to play No. 6 Seattle (20-8), which upset No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona 69-55.
The nightcap was probably the most exciting contest of the day, and certainly the most tense for the sold out attendance.
After starting out the stronger of the two teams, the Jacks were held scoreless for a four-minute spell and saw a three-point lead drop to a seven-point deficit.
The Jacks trailed by five at the interval and were unable to put any sort of a run together with Anchorage continually frustrating the No. 1 seeds and making a big shot every time they needed one.
To their credit, though, the Jacks stepped up on defense late in the game, holding the Seawolves scoreless for the final three minutes.
Will Sheufelt drained four key free throws late in the game, while Johnson pulled down three huge rebounds in the final 40 seconds to preserve the lead.
Johnson added a steal with 90 seconds remaining to set up a Ward basket that put the Jacks up by four.
Anchorage closes out the season at 19-9.
There are 70 tickets available for this evening's semifinals and they will go on sale at 4 p.m. in the Forbes Complex lobby with a limit of two per person.
Commentary: This game was a dog fight from start to finish. I give Alaska Anchorage a lof of credit in this game. They took a solid Humboldt State to the wire. Carl Arts is the real deal in my book. I saw a couple of moments of the game in the Great Alaska Shootout on ESPN and he carried the Seawolves as far as he could in that game against Loyola Marymount. Arts did the same thing in the first half against Humboldt in the West Regional. I'll say this. Alaska Anchorage did everything they could to win this game. It just came down to Humboldt's will and determined not to lose this game.
For Humboldt State, the East Gym is a tough place to play year in, year out since the 2000-2001 season. In the last hundred games played in the East Gym, Humboldt State is 91-9. Now, that is an impressive home court advantage at any level of sport.
Early on, Humboldt was trying to go down low on the block, but the Seawolves brought a physical game to the East Gym and it was working for a while. Then, in the second half, I think a combination of things happens. One, Carl Arts was hurt due to a hip injury. Two, the post players for Anchorage were in foul trouble. Three, the crowd got into the game. Shoot, if you can make the opponent's radio broadcaster turn off the crowd microphone, then that is loud. I must say to the guy that challenged me on Big Red Country on Friday morning, was that loud enough? Hopefully, it can be that way tonight and on Monday night, if Humboldt gets to the Championship Game.
My final thoughts on this game are this. Humboldt State refused to lose last night. I think Kevin Johnson and Devin Peal took it on their shoulders to win this game. Hopefully, Humboldt got two more wins in their tank at the East Gym. Then, we could see if they got three more wins in the tank after that.
Overall View of Day 1 and a Look Ahead to the Regional Semifinals: The first day of the West Regional was a success for Humboldt State. I think the excitement was in the air from the first game to the final game. While the attendance would look typical for the first session, I think the energy was present throughout the four games on Friday. I think Humboldt State did a good job overall on the first day. It will be interesting to see how the second day goes tonight.
Looking at the games tonight, you got two great semifinal games. Seattle and Cal State San Bernardino will be a good game. Seattle brings that style that could make them dangerous against San Bernardino. The big question will be can the Redhawks stop Ivan Johnson? I think that will be David White's assignment tonight and White can't get into foul trouble to give Seattle a shot in this game. For San Bernardino, we will see if they got the first game jitters out of them or if that was a sign of things to come. I think Prentice Harris and Ivan Johnson are capable of big games, but keep an eye on Marlon Pierce. If the game is close, Pierce is the type of guy who can hit the big shot.
The second semifinal pits a Grand Canyon who looked impressive in their win over Seattle Pacific against the host team, Humboldt State. This game will be loud again. I say in my prediction on http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/forum/f/7629, which is the unofficial message board for Humboldt State athletics, that rebounding, Grand Canyon's three point shooting and Humboldt's ability to score down low will be the keys in this game. Players to watch in this game are: Richard Davis and Bryan Lee from Grand Canyon and Jeremiah Ward, Kevin Johnson, and Devin Peal for Humboldt State. This will be a great semifinal match up.
Well, day one is in the book. Day two promises to be exciting. Come back tomorrow for the highlights from the 2007 NCAA Division II West Regional Championship.