After semifinal wins, Dixie State, BYU-Hawaii on collision course for NCAA II West Region title

ELLENSBURG, WA – The Pacific West Conference will send one of its men’s basketball teams to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Springfield, MA, when the chase for the national tournament title begins rising toward its zenith on March 23.

With the NCAA II West Region title game still to be played on Monday night, March 14, in Ellensburg, WA, such a bold statement usually ends up as locker room fodder and bulletin board material for teams feeling they may have be overlooked.

But when #4 Dixie State (22-6) edged #8 Seattle Pacific (20-10) 75-73 on Saturday night in one West Region Semifinal, and #7 BYU-Hawaii (19-8) ratcheted up its offense in a 100-91 sprint with #6 Alaska Anchorage (24-10) in the other, the All-PacWest NCAA Division II Regional Championship match-up between the Red Storm and Seasiders guaranteed that the PacWest would be sending a representative to the city where the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame calls home.

Dixie State and BYU-Hawaii will battle for the regional championship at 7 p.m. Monday night on the campus of Central Washington University. It will mark the first Elite Eight appearance for either school.

The Seasiders and Red Storm split their season series with BYU-Hawaii winning 83-61 in St. George, UT, on Jan. 27 and Dixie State capturing a 99-96 thriller in double-overtime in Laie, HI, on Feb. 26.

In the first semifinal contest, BYU-Hawaii exploded to a 44-26 halftime advantage and led by as many as 26 points before cruising to the victory.

Junior guard Jet Chang (Yilan, Taiwan/Sing Rong) scored 26 points, while senior forward Rory Patterson (Logan, UT/Logan) added 22, including four three-pointers. Chang was 10 for 11 form the line, 7 for 15 from the floor and pulled down seven defensive rebounds. Patterson shot 70% (7 for 10) from the field and 66.7% (4 for 6) from beyond the arc.

Sophomore guard Okesene Ale (Hau‘ula, HI/Kahuku) came off the bench for 15 points and junior guard Jake Dastrup (Grant’s Pass, OR/Grant’s Pass) hit four three-pointers en route to 14 points for the Seasiders.

Senior guard Marques Whippy (Bua, Fiji/Woods Cross, UT) filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocked shots, while senior guard Heath Gameren (Brisbane, Australia) doled out a game-high eight assists.

In the second semifinal contest, the Red Storm shot just 35.1% from the field but clearly won the game at the foul line where Dixie State made 29 of 33 (87.9%) free throw attempts. The Falcons, meanwhile, shot 66.7% (14 for 21) from the line.

Senior forward Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) led the Red Storm with 17 points, including 3 of 6 (50%) three-point attempts, while senior guard Donovan Plunkett (Oroville, CA/Las Plumas) dropped in 16 points and collected five rebounds. Both Plunkett (8 for 8) and Whitehead (4 for 4) were perfect from the foul line.

Junior forward/center Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) contributed 11 points by going 4 for 4 from the field and 3 for 4 from the line, while senior forward Brett Adams (Sandy, UT/Alta) led all Dixie State players with seven rebounds off the bench. He also scored nine points by going 9 for 10 from the free throw line.