BYU-Hawaii beats #1 West Liberty, faces Bellarmine (KY) for NCAA II title game

Courtesy BYU-Hawaii Sports Information

SPRINGFIELD, MA - The Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s basketball team out-ran and out-shot the nation’s number one team Thursday night as the Seasiders defeated West Liberty (WV) 110-101 in the NCAA II National Semifinals.

The victory sends the Seasiders to the Division II National Championship game for the first time in school history. BYU-Hawaii, now 22-8 for the season, will play second-ranked Bellarmine (KY) (32-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT/7 a.m. HT on CBS for the national title.

Junior Jet Chang torched the Hilltoppers for 43 points as he put on an incredible display of shooting.

Chang, who scored 26 points in the first half to spark the Seasiders to a 58-47 lead at the break, hit 14 of 17 shots from the field including 7 of 9 from three-point range. He hit 8 of 9 attempts from the free throw line.

As a team, the Seasiders shot 56.3 percent from the field for the game and 41.4 percent from beyond the arc.

However, in the second half, the Seasiders shot a sizzling 60.7 percent from the field (17 for 28) and 54.5 percent (6 for 11) from long range.

BYU-Hawaii also committed just 14 turnovers in the game against the full-court press of the Hilltoppers compared to 16 for West Liberty.

West Liberty, of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, had entered the game leading the nation in turnover margin with a +9.2, but the Seasiders took care of the ball throughout the game.

The Seasiders took an early lead to open the contest but West Liberty came back to take a 16-15 advantage with nearly seven minutes played in the first half. The Seasiders regained the lead but led just 26-24 at the 10-minute mark before going on a 15-2 run over the next five minutes to lead 41-26.

The margin grew to 17 points at 47-30 before the Hilltoppers came back again as the Seasiders settled for the 11-point halftime advantage.

The Hilltoppers hit seven of their first eight shots of the second half and 11 of their first 13 to take a 73-72 lead with 12:43 to go, but Jake Dastrup scored eight points and Marques Whippy six in a 15-4 BYU-Hawaii run that put the Seasiders back on top 87-77.

Once again West Liberty stormed back and tied the game 97-97 with just 2:40 to play. The Hilltoppers had a chance to take the lead after a steal but Heath Gameren hustled back defensively for the Seasiders to contest a layup by Hilltopper All-American Corey Pelle. Pelle missed the shot and Gary Satterwhite grabbed the rebound for the Seasiders.

Whippy then scored on a layup and, after a missed three-pointer by the Hilltoppers, snatched a rebound and passed the ball ahead to Chang for another layup to give the Seasiders a 101-97 lead with 1:33 to play.

BYU-Ha waii then hit 9 of 10 free throw attempts down the stretch, including 7 of 8 by Satterwhite to seal the win.

In addition to Chang’s 43 points, he handed out a team-high three assists. Whippy notched another double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Dastrup finished with 18 points.

Satterwhite, who netted a career-high 12 points in Wednesday night’s win over Bloomfield, bettered that with a new career-best 14 points that included making 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Gameren added 10 points for the Seasiders.

Chang’s 43 points shattered the BYU-Hawaii record for points scored in an NCAA II tournament game. The previous high was 34 by Jake Chrisman on March 13, 2004 against Humboldt State in a West Regional contest.

Chang’s total also ties the second-best single game mark for any game in BYU-Hawaii history. Wayne Keys also scored 43 points against Central State on December 17, 1988. The all-time BYU-Hawaii record for points in a game is 48 by David Evans against Montana State-Billings on January 15, 2000.

Chang also just missed the modern Pacific West Conference record of 44 points scored by William Overton, Jr. of Academy of Art this past December.

BYU-Hawaii Head Coach Ken Wagner said, “Jet was absolutely fantastic.” He also praised all the Seasider backcourt. “I thought if we could keep the turnovers down we would have a good chance against West Liberty. Our guards did a great job of handling the ball tonight.”

Wagner says he is delighted to be playing for the national championship on Saturday. “It’s really a great feeling. I am really proud of our team. They have come together at the right time and are playing really great basketball.”