BYU-Hawaii beats West Liberty in Division II semis

Published November 20, 2014

Jet Chang scored a career-high 43 points and BYU-Hawaii upset top-seeded West Liberty 110-101 on Thursday night to advance to the NCAA Division II championship game.

Chang hit 14 of his 17 shots, including seven 3-pointers.

"I think this is my best game ever in my career," said Chang.

Jake Dastrup added 18 points for the Seasiders (22-8), who went on a 9-0 run after the game was tied at 97 to secure the win.

Corey Pelle scored 32 points to lead West Liberty, which finishes the season at 33-1. Barry Shetzer added 23 points.

BYU-Hawaii will play Bellarmine University for the national title on Saturday. The Knights (32-2) beat Minnesota State-Mankato 81-74 in the other semifinal.

West Liberty, which averages over 111 points, trailed by as many as 17 in the first half but rallied several times in the second.

A 3-pointer from Jordan Fortney tied the game at 97 with 2:40 left, But BYU-Hawaii answered with fast-break layups from Marques Whippy and Chang to spark the final run.

"Great players make great plays, and I thought Jet was incredible," said Seasiders coach Ken Wagner. "Every time we needed something, he hit it and defensively did a nice job."

West Liberty trailed 58-47 at halftime, thanks to 26 first-half points from Chang.

But the Hilltoppers kept chipping away. A driving layup and foul shot from Pelle cut the lead to one. That was followed by a steal and a fast-break layup from Chris Morrow that put West Liberty ahead 73-72 with over 11 minutes left — the Hilltoppers' first lead since they were up 14-13. BYU-Hawaii responded with an 11-1 and an 83-74 advantage.

"We're a team that always has runs, so we knew eventually we'd have a run," said Pelle. "But when you have a kid that's not missing at all ... he (Chang) stopped our runs pretty easily."

BYU-Hawaii hit 56 percent of its shots from the field and was 12 of 29 from 3-point range. Gary Satterwhite and Whippy had 14 points each, and Whippy added 13 rebounds.

John Wolosinczuk had 17 points and 13 boards for West Liberty, which last lost in last year's Atlantic Region finals.

The Seasiders, who lost in each of the past three seasons in the regional final, will be making their first appearance in the title game.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/byu-hawaii-beats-west-liberty-in-division-ii-semis