HPU-BYUH end long rivalry on Thursday

Several of their meetings became the stuff of record books, fueling a local small-college rivalry as they chased national championships.

But now, after 38 years, the Brigham Young University-Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific University men’s basketball teams are preparing to close the pages on their cross-island competition.

Barring an unlikely postseason meeting, Thursday night’s game at Blaisdell Center — the 121st in the series — will be the last between the two.

On Jan. 16, 1979, they launched a rivalry that not only endured through the growing pains of the moves from NAIA to NCAA Division II status and into the Pac West Conference, but maintained a relevancy and vibrancy for decades.

The governing authorities of BYUH, which is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have chosen to close down, at the end of the current school year, an 11-sport intercollegiate athletic program that won more than 20 national championships.

The decision, which was upheld despite petition drives, was made so that “The money being spent on athletics programs will be used to provide educational opportunities for the increasing number of students from around the world who can be served by the university,” officials have said.

BYUH, which reported an enrollment of 2,390 full-time undergraduates, spent $2.5 million on its athletic program in 2015, its most recent filing with the U.S. Department of Education.

The ramifications of the decision, which mandated a three-year phaseout of the athletic program beginning in 2014, are seeping in as the Seasiders say their final round of goodbyes.

“It has started to sink in a little,” said Gabriel Roberts, a former assistant who is coaching the Seasiders’ final voyage. “We don’t talk about it much except for ‘Let’s be remembered for going out well and giving all we could.’”

The Seasiders have concluded their regular-season series with Chaminade and now have just Thursday night’s game with HPU and a Feb. 11 contest with UH Hilo on Hawaii island as their last remaining men’s basketball games against local competition.

The top six of the 14 teams in the Pac West qualify for the postseason tournament, but at 3-8 it is unlikely the Seasiders are going to be one of them, much as they are determined to try to leave on a high note.

The phasing out of the program has taken its toll. So too have injuries. The combination finds the Seasiders 5-12 entering the game with HPU, which is 18-1 and ranked seventh in Division II this week by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. It is the Sharks’ highest ranking in the NCAA era.

“For all of us at HPU athletics, it is a bittersweet (occasion),” said Vince Baldemor, executive director of athletics. “We’ve developed a great rivalry. … So we’re going to miss BYU-Hawaii.”

Tony Sellitto, who coached HPU to the NAIA National Championship in 1993, the only national basketball title won by a Hawaii school, said “When I was coaching it was the most competitive series we had.”

The year before BYUH went to the NAIA final four. The Seasiders were national NCAA Division II runners-up in 2011, part of a 501-241 run under then-head coach Ken Wagner. Overall, BYUH leads the series 71-49.

“We kind of gauged how good we were by how well we played against BYU-Hawaii,” Sellitto said. “We looked forward to going out there (to Laie) and playing in that gym.”

Sellitto, who also served as athletic director, said, “It was good competition in a lot of sports — volleyball, tennis, cross country. … You hate to see it end. ”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.