After its championship dreams were lost in the cold of Alaska last year, the Brigham Young University-Hawai'i men's basketball team wanted this year's championship run to start at home on the North Shore.

That's just one of several lofty goals the Seasiders have been able to accomplish.

Third-ranked and top-seeded BYUH (25-1) will host eighth-seeded Humboldt State (20-11) in tomorrow's first round of the NCAA Division II West Region Tournament at 7:30 p.m. at the Cannon Activities Center. In the other sub-regional match, No. 4 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills (21-7) will face No. 5 Central Washington (18-6) at 5 p.m. Tomorrow's winners will meet in Saturday's second round at 7:30 p.m.

"We're really excited (to host), this is a goal we set last year when we lost in the Sweet 16," BYUH coach/athletic director Ken Wagner said of last year's regional final loss to Alaska-Anchorage. "We needed to work hard and have a reason to have it at our home place where our fans can be involved. It was such a fun time."

The typical regional format has each region's top eight teams playing at that region's top seed. But due to travel costs of having all seven teams in the West travel to La'ie, the NCAA split the West region into two sub-regionals. No. 2 seed Western Washington (21-5) is hosting the other sub-regional, which also starts tomorrow, with No. 7 Seattle Pacific (18-9), No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona (20-7) and No. 6 Cal State San Bernardino (20-9). The two sub-regional winners will meet next week in the regional final (Sweet 16 portion) at the highest remaining seed.

The eight regional winners advance to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., which starts March 25. The championship game is March 27.

"They got some great players, a good coach," Humboldt State coach Tom Wood said of BYUH. "You don't go 25-1, be ranked third in nation and don't win 22 straight games without being darn good."

The other lofty goals the Seasiders set for this season were to be the best rebounding and scoring team in the nation. BYUH leads the nation in rebounding margin (10.3) and is fourth in scoring (92.0 points per game).

"Those things were specific goals at the beginning of the year," Wagner said. "We feel you have to be good at one of really two things."

Junior forward/center Lucas Alves, the West Region's Player of the Year, leads the Seasiders with 19.7 points per game and is shooting 54 percent from the field. He is one of five Seasiders who are averaging more than 10 points per game. BYUH is shooting 52 percent from the field. Alves and Marques Whippy lead the team with 7.6 rebounds per game.

"He's a big-time player," Wagner said of Alves, a 6-foot-9, 230-pounder from Casa Branca, Brazil. "He hits big shots, has his ups and downs, but is pretty consistent, about 20 points and 10 rebounds. He has a great attitude and is the perfect type of team player you need."

BYUH started the season by beating defending national champion Winona State (Minn.) twice. After losing to Washburn (Kansas) in December, BYUH reeled off 22 straight wins. The Seasiders won the PacWest Conference after going 12-0, but were challenged by Hawai'i-Hilo and Chaminade, which lost three of its last four to fall out of the region's eighth spot.

"Our team, every time they really come to play," Wagner said. "You don't have to worry about them not showing up and doing a good job. They come and play hard, take care of business."

The Lumberjacks from Arcata, Calif., tied for fourth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and will be making their eighth postseason appearance in the last nine years. Wood believes his team's strength of schedule secured the final regional berth.

"We think it's a reward, not a gift," Wood said. "We had a good season and we belong in the tournament."

Zac Tiedeman, the Lumberjacks' leader and junior point guard, went to the emergency room on Monday and was diagnosed with pneumonia. He is the only player on the team to start all 31 games. The CCAA first-team honoree leads the team with 12.5 points and 4.2 assists per game. He led the league with a 2.4 assists-turnover ratio and shot 89 percent from the free throw line. Wood hopes Tiedeman will be available for tomorrow's game.

"He's our quarterback, he's the guy that does all the dirty work," Wood said. "We ask him to bring the ball up, score. We haven't figured out how to pass it to himself yet."

With seven freshmen on the roster, Wood feels his team overachieved.

"They've been fun to coach," he said. "Sometimes they act like freshmen, sometimes they act like seniors."

To get through this weekend, BYUH will focus on the goals they set for this year. Rebound, take good shots and thrive at home. The Seasiders averaged more than 1,400 fans this season and had 2,798 at their regular-season home finale last Saturday against Hawai'i Pacific.

"The crowd helps, they've been tremendous this year," Wagner said. "A lot of enthusiasm ... it kind of helps our uptempo style."

NOTE: Named to the West Region's Second Team were Chaminade's Joel Smith and UH Hilo's Jay DeMaestri.