The Brigham Young-Hawaii men’s basketball team’s season came to an end Friday, falling to Seattle Pacific 81-69 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II West Regional in Azusa, Calif.
Seattle Pacific, the seventh seed, upset the second-seeded Seasiders with a big second-half run at the Felix Event Center.
"We’re obviously disappointed," BYU-Hawaii head coach Ken Wagner said. "We felt we were playing well and Seattle Pacific did a great job of being patient and taking us out of what we wanted to do."
BYU-Hawaii (24-6) started the game with a 7-0 run in the first two minutes, led by Pablo Coro’s five points, but Seattle Pacific (24-7) kept it close, battling to within 14-12 with 11:42 left in the half.
The teams traded baskets, with Seattle Pacific eventually taking a 36-34 halftime lead.
BYU-Hawaii started the second half strong with an 8-2 run highlighted by a Coro 3-pointer.
But the Falcons answered with a 15-0 run to take a 57-45 lead with 12 minutes left. Corey Lange and Luke Aston hit 3-pointers to spark a 12-2 Seasiders run that cut the lead to one with six minutes remaining.
With under 1:30 left, Seattle Pacific sealed the game by going 8-for-10 from the free-throw line and BYU-Hawaii was unable to get the buckets it needed down the stretch.
Mitch Penner led all scorers with 19 points, and Shawn Reid finished with 18 for Seattle Pacific.
Coro scored 13 points and Jordan Stone added 10 for BYU-Hawaii.
NCAA D-II women
@cfr — scorelines:<*p(0,0,0,10.5,5.25,0,G(P,S))>Cal Baptist 77, Hawaii Pacific 69
The Sharks went cold down the stretch, scoring just a point in the final 5:55, and fell to the Lancers in the NCAA Division II Women’s West Regional in Anchorage, Alaska.
After West Region and PacWest Player of the Year Morganne Comstock hit back-to-back jumpers for the Sharks (25-5) to tie it at 68 with 5:55 to play, HPU could only get a free throw from Jessi Reeves the rest of the way.
Comstock was sensational in her last game as a Shark, posting 22 points, nine rebounds, five steals, four blocks and four assists. Breanna Mackenzie added 14 points, while Chenise Peone scored 12.
HPU forced 22 turnovers while committing only eight, but it wasn’t enough to overcome California Baptist’s 29-for-58 (50 percent) shooting night. Courtney Nelson scored 24 points to lead the Lancers (25-6).
