Seasiders End Red Storm Season in Regional Final

Griffon Jones racks up 25 points in loss

ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Mar. 14) -- Guard Jake Dastrup led a balanced attack with 18 points and tournament Most Outstanding Player Marques Whippy produced a double-double as Brigham Young University-Hawaii earned its first-ever NCAA Division II West Regional men's basketball title with a 79-73 win against Dixie State College of Utah on Monday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Seasiders (20-8), who were playing in their fourth straight West Regional title game, earned the first West Regional title for a PacWest school since Western Washington won the championship in 2001 when the PacWest was a 16-team conference.

Seasider coach Ken Wagner's team came into the tournament as the No. 7 seed. "I'm really happy for these guys, especially the seniors," Wagner said. "No one was picking us to win it but they (the BYUH players) were focused. We all thought we could win if we did the things we are capable of."

Dastrup made five of nine three-pointers including one during an 11-0 run when the Seasiders overcame an early 19-11 Dixie lead. He also banked in a trey to finish off an 11-1 run to end the first half giving BYU-Hawaii a 13-point lead at the break (44-31).

In the second half, the Red Storm (22-7), which was the tournament's fourth seed, put together a 14-4 run to climb to within four points (51-47) with 13:49 left, but Dastrup then hit another three and Jet Chang got a lay-up to re-establish a nine-point lead.

Dixie State later climbed to within five on two occasions, including 69-64 with 2:08 remaining, but never got any closer as BYU-Hawaii rebuilt an 11-point lead at 76-65 with 49 seconds left.

Whippy, who finished the tournament with 53 points, 30 rebounds, 12 assists, seven blocks and eight steals, had 10 points and game-highs of 11 rebounds and five assists in the championship game.

It was the fourth straight year Whippy had played in a regional title contest.

"I've been told only two other teams have reached the Sweet 16 in each of the past four years, so that is an incredible accomplishment for Marques," Wagner said.

Also in double figures for BYUH were Chang and Okesene Ale with 14 each, and Rory Patterson with 10.

Dixie State was led by forward Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) with a career-high 25 points. Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) and Donovan Plunkett (Oroville, CA/Las Plumas) each had 12.

Whitehead and Chang, along with Marcus Gill of Alaska Anchorage and David Downs of Seattle Pacific, joined Whippy on the all-tournament team.

BYU-Hawaii now advances to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, which begins Wednesday, Mar. 23 in Springfield, Mass. The Seasiders will play the East Region champion, either Bloomfield (N.J.) or Bentley (Mass.) in the quarterfinals.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL WEST REGION TOURNAMENT (CHAMPIONSHIP GAME)
BRIGHAM YOUNG-HAWAII 79, DIXIE STATE 73

BRIGHAM YOUNG-HAWAII (20-8) -- Dastrup, Jake 6-10 1-2 18; Chang, Tsung-Hsien 6-12 2-4 14; Ale, Okesene 4-7 4-6 14; Patterson, Rory 4-7 0-0 10; Whippy, Marques 5-11 0-0 10; Gameren, Heath 2-5 5-7 9; Chase, Cory 2-3 0-0 4; Satterwhite, Gary 0-0 0-0 0; Scott, Josh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-55 12-19 79.
DIXIE STATE (22-7) -- Jones, Griffon 9-11 7-9 25; Plunkett, Donovan 4-9 2-2 12; Whitehead, Tom 4-13 2-3 12; Barnes, Jeremiah 4-9 0-1 8; Jensen, Solomon 3-4 0-2 6; Cole, Maurice 1-2 1-1 3; Adams, Brett 1-1 1-2 3; Massey, McKay 1-4 0-0 2; Araujo, Everton 1-1 0-0 2; Berger, John 0-0 0-0 0; Owen, Derek 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-54 13-20 73.
Halftime--Brigham Young-Hawaii 44, Dixie State 31. 3-point goals--Brigham Young-Hawaii 9-19 (Dastrup, Jake 5-9; Ale, Okesene 2-3; Patterson, Rory 2-3; Gameren, Heath 0-1; Chang, Tsung-Hsien 0-3), Dixie State 4-16 (Plunkett, Donovan 2-5; Whitehead, Tom 2-8; Cole, Maurice 0-1; Massey, McKay 0-1; Barnes, Jeremiah 0-1). Fouled out--Brigham Young-Hawaii-None, Dixie State-Barnes, Jeremiah. Rebounds--Brigham Young-Hawaii 26 (Whippy, Marques 11), Dixie State 31 (Jensen, Solomon 7; Jones, Griffon 7). Assists--Brigham Young-Hawaii 14 (Whippy, Marques 5), Dixie State 20 (Barnes, Jeremiah 5; Whitehead, Tom 5). Total fouls--Brigham Young-Hawaii 18, Dixie State 22. Technical fouls--Brigham Young-Hawaii-None, Dixie State-None. Att--305.
2011 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball West Region Tournament Championship

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Most Outstanding Player: Marques Whippy, Brigham Young-Hawaii
All-Tournament Team: Tsung-Hsien (Jet) Chang, Brigham Young-Hawaii; David Downs, Seattle Pacific; Mario Gill, Alaska Anchorage; Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie), Dixie State

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