Alaska Anchorage 55, California (Pa) 52

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior forward McCade Olsen knocked down a 10-foot turnaround jumper in the paint with 27-seconds remaining to give Alaska Anchorage its first lead since the opening minute of the second half as the Seawolves upended California (Pa) 55-52 in the second quarterfinal game of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Elite Eight at the MassMutual Center this afternoon.

The Seawolves went 14-for-17 from the foul line, while California converted three of its four attempts from stripe on the other end.

Alaska Anchorage (28-6) will now meet Augusta State in a national semifinal game tomorrow. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm. The Jaguars advanced with a 106-104, double overtime victory against Central Oklahoma earlier today.

After Olsen’s jumper made it 52-50; California (29-5) turned the ball over on its next trip up the floor and was thus forced to foul at that juncture. Alaska Anchorage senior forward Carl Arts then canned a pair of free throw to make it a four-point, 54-50, affair with 12 ticks showing on the clock. Senior guard Theron Colao then converted an uncontested layup at the other end to bring the Vulcans back to within a pair, 54-52, with four seconds remaining. However, Alaska Anchorage senior guard Chris Bryant went 1-for-2 from the stripe on the other end to account for the final margin with three seconds to go.

California nearly forced overtime as Colao’s desperation 3-pointer from just beyond midcourt ricocheted off the backboard and then off the front rim, before falling to the floor as the final buzzer sounded.

“We talked all year that we are not always great, but we are always resilient,” said Alaska Anchorage head coach Rusty Osborne: “The kids brought into it. We held their two leading scorers (Alioune Mbaye and Ron Banks) to a total of seven points. We gave up some other stuff, but we weren’t going to let those two beat us.”

California head coach Bill Brown concurred with Osborne’s assessment. “They did a tremendous job on our two leading scorers. They took our effectiveness away because they stopped us inside,” said Brown. “They have a really balanced basketball team.”

Arts had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Alaska-Anchorage. Senior guard Luke Cooper wound up with 12 points while playing the entire 40 minutes, and Bryant added 11 points and five boards.

Colao led California with 19 points, including 14 in the second half, throughout 26 minutes off the bench; while freshman swing Julian Logan tossed in 12 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor.

The second half featured six ties although California led by as many as seven points on two occasions. The final time came at the 9:23 mark after Logan drained a jumper to put the Vulcans up 42-35 with 10:40 remaining. However, the Seawolves scored nine of the ensuring 11 points to deadlock the affair at 44-44 with 6:57 to go. After Colao drained one of his five, 3-pointers to put California back on top; Alaska-Anchorage limited the Vulcans to one field goal of the rest of the way.

Regardless, it was still tied three and half minutes later, 50-50, after Olsen knocked down a jumper from the right corner. The two teams failed to convert throughout the next three minutes, before Olsen backed his man down in the paint and hit his pivotal turnaround jumper.

The opening 20 minutes was reminiscent of the second half as California shot out to a nine-point, 14-5, lead with 11:49 left as junior guard Jesse Brooks and senior guard James Hairston both drained 3-poiners to highlight the surge. However, Alaska Anchorage answered with a 13-4 spurt to afford the games its first tie, 18-18, with 5:36 left until the break.

The Seawolves then held California scoreless throughout the final 4:47 after Colao drained a 3-pointer to put the Vulcans up 23-20. However, Cooper finished in the paint and then hit the second of two free throws, before Arts converted a layup that put Alaska-Anchorage ahead 25-23 at the break.