Seasiders find a depth they can't handle

The Seawolves were in the middle of a 10-0 run and had taken a 15-13 lead, their first of the game after falling behind 8-0.

Point guard Luke Cooper fired a pass to Carl Arts who had spun off his defender at the free throw line and had a clear path to the basket.

But the pass was a little too hot and it glanced off Arts hands and was headed out of bounds for what would have been UAA's fourth turnover in the young game.

But Arts hustled after the loose ball, jumped over the end line to retrieve it and toss it to Kevin White on the left side.

White immediately swung it to Cooper at the top of the key, who one-touched it to Chris Bryant, who launched a 3-pointer from his right elbow.

In the space of maybe three seconds, a good play turned into a bad play turned into a great play, and four of the five Seawolves on the floor touched the ball.

"We just didn't give up on the play," Cooper said after UAA's 73-67 win over BYU-Hawaii in the West Regional championship game. "We play every possession through, and Carl did a great job of recovering."

The Seawolves have used contributions like that to win a school-record 28 games this season and earn a spot in the Division II Elite Eight tournament in Springfield, Mass., later this month.

"We're deep. We stick together. We've got guys off the bench who just play their roles, don't try and do too much," Cooper said. "Our starters know how to play, we get them off to a good start, and guys off the bench have been huge all year.

"They don't get the credit they deserve."

Seven of the eight Seawolves who saw action Monday night scored -- four in double figures. That was a marked contrast to UAA's semifinal win on Saturday when only four players accounted for all of UAA's 56 points.

"Jeremiah (Trueman) didn't have a great game tonight defensively, but he scored," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said. "Cameron (Burney) really struggled, but he hit some big baskets in the second half and got some big rebounds.

"Doug Hardy was able to get in there only four minutes ... but it was enough to give Luke a breather and make sure he didn't pick up a dumb foul being tired. Kevin White came through again, second night in a row, and he hasn't been playing a lot."

All seven of the Seawolves who scored did so by halftime, and UAA's ability to get points from anywhere on the floor affected what BYU- Hawaii did defensively.

"We never talk about trying to get multiple people involved or anything like that," Osborne said. "We've got a system. On the offensive end, we want to have good movement, execute our sets and the guy that's open is going to score."

In the first half, that was Arts, who led the way with eight of his 14 points. He also came up with a big steal late in the game -- much like his first half play, only throwing the ball off a Seasider this time -- to help lock up the win.

In the second half it was McCade Olsen, who bagged 13 of his team-high 18 on his way to tournament Most Outstanding Player honors.

But in addition to those two stars, Trueman had 10 points, Bryant scored 14 and Cooper dished out 11 assists and had three steals.

"Our starters know they're going to play the majority of the minutes, but they also understand we wouldn't be as successful without those guys coming off the bench," Osborne said. "When it comes to crunch time, do we want to get it to certain people? Sure.

"(But) 90 percent of the time, our offense is work with each other and the guy who's supposed to score will score."

Find Andrew Hinkelman online at adn.com/contact/ahinkelman or call 257-4335.