The Seawolves are going to the Elite Eight, and there's probably nobody more relieved than Carl Arts.

Arts, the UAA men's basketball team's first-team all-conference forward, missed a pair of late free throws that would have gone a long way toward clinching victory. But he missed both, a surprise given that Arts is one of the greatest foul shooters in school history.

It was all good, though, because on the next trip down the court Arts delivered a heads-up play when he grabbed a loose ball and deflected it off an opposing player to give possession back to the Seawolves.

And it wasn't just the ball that changed hands, but momentum too.

From there, teammate McCade Olsen drained four straight free throws to ice a 73-67 victory over BYU-Hawaii in Monday night's championship game of the NCAA Division II West Regional before a raucous sellout crowd of 1,160 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Afterwards, Arts savored success while acknowledging that he had dodged a never-live-it-down bullet.

"Oh, man, when that first one popped out I was like, 'Oh no, I just cost my team everything,' " said Arts, standing on the court during a post-game celebration and sporting a new regional championship T-shirt. "But McCade Olsen stepped it up, baby. I love that kid."

Indeed, Olsen came up big once again. On Monday, he pumped in 18 points, his latest clutch tournament performance. Olsen averaged 22.7 points in the three games, leading the 28-5 Seawolves into the NCAA Elite Eight for the second time in school history and the first since 1988.

Those games begin March 26 in Springfield, Mass.

"Best feeling ever," Olsen said. "This is the most I've ever won. I've never been to the national tournament. This is amazing."

The 6-foot-8 all-conference senior forward was named West Regional Most Outstanding Player. He was critical in each playoff win, scoring a career-high 28 points against UC San Diego in the opener, hitting the go-ahead free throws with 1.7 seconds to play in the semifinals against Seattle Pacific and then collecting 13 of his 18 points in the second half in the championship game.

"I don't know how to explain it," Olsen said of his play in the postseason. "I was just ready to play and it came to me. I'm really blessed."

And Arts is equally fortunate.

The 6-6 former Valdez High star played well in delivering a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He had a chance to cap a wonderful performance when he went to the free-throw line with 29.4 seconds left and UAA nursing a 69-67 cushion.

Arts lives for those types of moments at the end of games, and he usually excels. He entered the game ranked 10 th in UAA career free-throw percentage at 82.9 and was 6 for 6 to that point. Everybody in attendance figured he'd make both.

It didn't happen.

The first one rolled off, and the second hit the front of the rim.

All of a sudden, the upset-minded Seasiders had possession with a chance to tie or take the lead for the first time in the second half.

They worked the ball to their 6-9 stud Lucas Alves, who fumbled it after a UAA defender deflected the pass. The ball looked to be going out of bounds off BYU-Hawaii but Arts made sure by spiking it off Alves with just 16.6 seconds remaining.

"You can't hang your head on every single play," Arts said about missing the late free throws. "You have to forget it and go on to the next play."

It was hustle plays like that down the stretch that made the difference for UAA, which capped a perfect 18-0 record at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Near the 1:30 mark Olsen forced a jump ball situation after tying up BYU-Hawaii's Corey Nielson. That set up two Luke Cooper free throws. Then inside the final 30 seconds Arts grabbed consecutive offensive rebounds -- UAA had only two to that point -- that led to a trip to the foul line.

For most of the night, though, it was the seventh-seeded Seasiders (20-8) who grabbed the loose balls and won the effort plays.

BYU-Hawaii enjoyed a 16-6 edge in offensive rebounding that fueled second-chance opportunities and kept them in the game. During a stretch early in the second half, the Hawaiians scored off three straight offensive rebounds, with Paul Peterson (12 points) canning back-to-back 3-pointers, that helped the Seasiders trim a double-figure deficit to 48-44.

"I thought we did an excellent job offensive rebounding. We just needed to put a few more of them back in," BYU-Hawaii coach Ken Wagner said. "But when you lose a game that close, coming down to one possession, it's obviously a tough one. These kids played their hearts out."

For the most part, the Seawolves slowed down Alves, the reigning Pac West Conference MVP. He finished with his usual 20 points and 10 rebounds, but that's down from the 33 and 11 he hung on them during UAA's 95-90 double overtime win in Laie, Hawaii, earlier this season.

Still, Alves managed to inflict some fear by netting nine of his team's final 15 points, including a three-point play that made it 69-67 with 1:01 left.

"That Brazilian kid, he's a monster inside," said UAA forward Jeremiah Trueman, who scored 10 points, twice his season average. "Strong, athletic, tough to stop. You gotta be on your toes the whole time. One little (mistake) and he dunks on you. It's good to get another win against him."

Cooper, UAA's conference player of the year and emotional sparkplug, added 11 assists and three steals. Fellow senior Chris Bryant chipped in 14 points and went 7 for 7 from the foul line to help the Seawolves make 22 of 25. BYU-Hawaii made just 7 of 14.

In the end, though, it wasn't foul shooting that made the difference. It was the play of Olsen and the rest of the Seawolves, who rewarded the sellout crowd with the team's greatest victory on its campus court.

"These fans are phenomenal," Arts said. "I love playing here at UAA. For us to win this game and to send the fans home with a win this big is just phenomenal."

Find assistant sports editor Van Williams online at adn.com/contact/vwilliams or call 257-4335.

BYU-Hawaii 29 38 -- 67

UAA 34 39 -- 73

BYU-HAWAII -- Alves 8-16 3-5 20; Peterson 4-8 0-0 12; Whippy 3-6 2-2 8; Nielson 3-7 0-0 7; Sims 2-5 2-6 6; Akana 2-6 0-0 6; Odjegba 2-6 0-0 4; Casey 1-1 0-1 2; Brown 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 26-59 7-14 67.

UAA -- Olsen 6-14 5-5 18; Arts 4-11 6-8 14; Bryant 3-6 7-7 14; Trueman 4-5 2-3 10; Burney 3-4 0-0 8; White 2-3 0-0 5; Cooper 1-2 2-2 4; Hardy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-46 22-25 73.

3-point goals -- BYU-Hawaii 8-19 (Peterson 4-7; Akana 2-5; Nielson 1-2; Alves 1-4; Sims 0-1), UAA 5-13 (Burney 2-3; Bryant 1-4; White 1-2; Olsen 1-3; Arts 0-1). Fouled out -- BYU-Hawaii-None, UAA-Trueman. Rebounds -- BYU-Hawaii 35 (Alves 10), UAA 28 (Arts 10). Assists -- BYU-Hawaii 15 (Nielson 6), UAA 15 (Cooper 11). Total fouls -- BYU-Hawaii 21, UAA 17. Technical fouls -- BYU-Hawaii-Peterson, UAA-None. A -- 1,160.

All-tournament team

• McCade Olsen, UAA (Most Outstanding Player)

• Luke Cooper, UAA

• Carl Arts, UAA

• Paul Peterson, BYU-Hawaii

• Lucas Alves, BYU-Hawaii

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