Anchorage Daily News

The Seawolves are one win shy of reaching the Final Four, and the biggest obstacle standing in their way is a 30-year-old father of three.

Yep, California University of Pennsylvania star Ron Banks is an old man by today's college basketball standards, but the former high school McDonald's All-American still has game. The senior proved that by earning Most Valuable Player honors in the East Regional and leading the Vulcans into the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass.

A 6-foot-5, 250-pound forward, Banks is an explosive player with the size and strength to overpower his competition and dominate the interior. He is thick in girth and heavy on athleticism, reminding the Seawolves coaching staff of a former hefty lefty.

"He's Joe Davis on steroids," UAA associate head coach Shane Rinner joked Tuesday. Davis, a former UAA player, was 6-7 and about 280 pounds.

The fourth-ranked Seawolves (28-5) will have their hands full trying to slow down Banks, who is averaging 15.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game on 58 percent shooting from the field and 84 percent from the line.

And he's not the only quality big man ready to pound the Seawolves.

The ninth-ranked Vulcans (28-5) have another stud in 6-6, 240-pound senior Aloune Mbaye, a forward-center tweener who is scoring 12.3 points and grabbing 8.1 rebounds per game. Like Banks, Mbaye is shooting 58 percent from the field, and both have attempted more than 160 free throws.

Rather than trying to guard them one-on-one with 6-6, 210-pound Carl Arts or 6-8, 215-pound McCade Olsen, UAA is going with a committee strategy. That means all five Seawolves on the court are responsible for providing double teams and weak-side help.

"We're gonna have to stop them as a group because we won't be able to stop them one-on-one," UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said. "But we've been pretty good at that all year. Our kids have bought into helping each other out and playing team defense. That's one of the reasons we've had success."

Indeed, UAA's fifth-ranked defense has been its trademark all season. The Seawolves are giving up only 60.4 points per game, putting them on pace to smash the school (65.6) and GNAC (68.8) records for scoring defense.

They'll need more of the same today against Cal, with an emphasis on denying the post.

"We're trying to eliminate any inside presence because that's the strength of their game," said Arts, who was named an All-American on Tuesday. "You just gotta be tough. You gotta be physical with them, especially with these guys. They're really big guys. You have to let them know you're not gonna back down."

Focusing so much on the interior means the Seawolves are bound to give up open looks on the perimeter, but Osborne can live with that. The Vulcans don't shoot the 3-pointer particularly well (34 percent) and have made only 150 threes all season. By contrast, UAA sank 252 threes and is converting 42 percent of its attempts.

"We want to make them a jump-shooting team," Arts said.

The Seawolves counter with one of the best starting fives in the country -- featuring two All-Americans in Arts and point guard Luke Cooper, an all-conference center in Olsen, a 3-point specialist in Chris Bryant and a defensive specialist in swingman Carmeron Burney.

Arts leads the team in scoring (18.5) and rebounding (8.0), Cooper is the national Division II leader in assists (9.1), Olsen is among the conference leaders in shooting percentage at 55.0, Bryant ranks 16th nationally in 3-point percentage at 45.4 and Burney is the glue guy that defends the opposing team's most athletic player.

Together, they have helped UAA break or tie 19 team and individual records on its way to reaching the Elite Eight for only the second time in school history -- and the first since 1988, when UAA played in the national championship game.

"Our kids are ready," Osborne said. "They're really paying attention to detail and taking in everything we're doing to prepare them. I think we'll be prepared for whatever happens."

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

ROAD TO THE ELITE EIGHT

• UAA: The Seawolves won the West Regional with victories over UC San Diego, Seattle Pacific and BYU-Hawaii. Regional Most Outstanding Player McCade Olsen, a 6-8 forward, averaged 23 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals in three tournament games. He shot 59 percent (24 of 41) from the field and was perfect on 17 free throws.

• Cal: The Vulcans won the East Region after defeating Queens, Alderson-Broaddus and Millersville. Tournament MVP Ron Banks, a 6-5 forward, averaged 20 points and 7 rebounds over three playoff games, keyed by a 27-point performance in the regional championship.

NCAA HISTORY

• UAA: This is the 14th time the Seawolves have qualified for the NCAA Tournament, compiling a 12-13 all-time record and marching all the way to the national championship game in 1988. UAA has made the postseason three straight seasons under coach Rusty Osborne, just the second time the school has done that since the three-year run from 1986 to 1988.

• California: The Vulcans are headed back to the Elite Eight for the third time since 1992. The previous two times they went to the Final Four. This is the 12th time Cal has participated in the NCAA Tournament, amassing a 12-11 all-time record.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

• UAA: Jeremiah Trueman. The 6-9 reserve center could play a huge role inside the paint on both sides of the ball. In the West Regional final he delivered 10 points and a pair of blocked shots, mostly in the first half when he filled in for foul-plagued McCade Olsen.

• Cal: Theron Colao. The 6-3 starting guard is his squad's major 3-point threat on 50-of-139 shooting, although his 36-percent clip puts him third on the team beyind Raynard Sawyer at 37 percent and Kenny Johnson at 42 percent.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

UAA leads the all-time series 1-0 with the Seawolves winning 81-65 on Jan. 9, 1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Springfield, Mass.

Today's Quarterfinal Game

No. 4 UAA vs. No. 9 California (Pa.), 10:30 a.m. ADT

• RADIO: Live AM-1080

• ONLINE: Live statistics and a video stream will be available at www.ncaa.com. A watch party also will be held at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. in the UAA student union building for the women's and men's NCAA games.

Tale of the Tape

UAA -- California

28-5 Record 28-5

74.3 Points For 72.8

60.4 Points Against 62.4

49.7 FG Percentage 49.1

76.0 FT Percentage 71.4

32.4 Rebounds 34.2

17.5 Assists 14.2

11.8 Turnovers 15.4

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