The sport of basketball has improved globally over the years and the Brigham Young-Hawai'i men's basketball team has taken advantage.

BYU-Hawai'i, ranked No. 3 in the NABC Division II poll, has five international players on its roster with all being from different countries.

Lucas Alves, who leads the team with 19.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, is from Casa Branca, Brazil.

The Seasiders' top reserve, Tsung-Hsien "Jet" Chang (12.7 ppg; second on team), is from Yilan, Taiwan.

Marques Whippy, a reserve who leads the team with a .559 field-goal percentage and 64 steals, is from Bua, Fiji.

Whitney McCloud of Toronto and Nkosi Stewart of St. Vincent, Caribbean have seen limited playing time this season.

"I think it's a situation where they come to BYU-Hawai'i because we have a lot of international students on campus," BYU-Hawai'i head coach Ken Wagner said. "For basketball, coming from a foreign country, it usually takes a year or two to adjust; others step in and play well."

The diverse roster, which includes players from six states, has helped BYU-Hawai'i achieve its most successful season in history.

BYU-Hawai'i (27-1) has won 24 in a row and will host Cal Poly Pomona (22-7) tonight at 7:30 in the NCAA Division II West Regional final at Cannon Activities Center.

The winner advances to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass. Games will be played March 25, 26 and 28.

BYU-Hawai'i's point man for recruiting is assistant Brandyn Akana, who played for the Seasiders from 1992-1993 and 1995-1998.

Akana said he has scouted internationally in American Samoa, Western Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, The Philippines and New Zealand.

"Asia is a special place for me. I enjoy going there," he said. "I also have connections in South America and The Philippines."

Akana said he often gets referrals from older brother Jarrin Akana, former assistant coach and international scout for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks.

Jarrin played for BYU-Hawai'i and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

Akana never saw Alves play in Brazil, but heard about him through Jarrin, who ran basketball camps there.

On the recruitment of Alves, Akana said, "Everything was done over the phone and e-mail after the referral."

As for Chang, "Brandyn kept in touch. For a while it seemed as though he was interested, then not interested. Brandyn did a good job following up and maintaining contact," Wagner said.

Akana said he remembers Whippy playing basketball in Fiji at age 12 or 13.

"I really love traveling, meeting families, watching basketball and meeting players," said Akana, who added recruiting is a year-round activity. "BYU-Hawai'i, it's a special place. I like telling that to other people."

Other international players who have helped the Seasiders in recent years are Alexis Foyle (Virgin Islands) and Yuta Tabuse (Japan).

BYU-Hawai'i's international student body and isolated North Shore campus make the international players' cultural adjustment less difficult, Akana said.

"That makes it easier for them to fit in and concentrate and feel comfortable here," he said.

The school also has a strong English as a Second Language program.

TEMPO CONTROL

BYU-Hawai'i likes to run-and-gun.

Cal Poly Pomona likes to slow it down.

The team that controls the tempo tonight has a good chance to advance to the Elite Eight.

BYU-Hawai'i, the Pacific West Conference champion and regional's No. 1 seed, averages 92 points per game with five players averaging double figures.

Cal Poly Pomona is a half-court offense, zone defense team that averages 65.3 points per game.

"I think it's critical that we take good shots," Wagner said. "We have to be a little more patient. We'll try and control tempo by pushing the ball and playing aggressive defense."

The Seasiders are shooting 52 percent from the field, averaging 20.1 assists per game and hold a plus-9.4 rebounding advantage.

"Our two main goals is shoot for a good shooting percentage and lead the nation in rebounding," Wagner said. "To have a good field-goal percentage you can't be selfish. You have to move the ball and get it to people that are open."

Kaimuki High alum Jimmy Miyasaka, a senior, averages 2.4 points per game for Cal Poly Pomona, the California Collegiate Athletic Association co-champion and No. 3 seed.

The Broncos won two games to advance out of the West sub-regional at Bellingham, Wash., last week.

NCAA RESPONDS

BYU-Hawai'i and Cal Poly Pomona were supposed to play last night at Cannon Activities Center, but the Broncos encountered travel issues getting out of Bellingham, Wash.

The result was the game being moved to tonight by the NCAA.

Cal Poly Pomona beat Cal State San Bernardino on Friday and Seattle Pacific on Saturday to advance to play at BYU-Hawai'i.

The main hold-ups were dividing up the Broncos' travel party and its late arrival in Honolulu.

In an e-mail response to The Advertiser yesterday, NCAA official Jeff Jarnecke wrote: "The options included splitting the 20 person travel party among four flights departing (Sunday) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Pacific time) with the last flight not arriving into Honolulu until quite late. We did not believe this was an adequate option due to the extreme separation of the team."

Cal Poly Pomona left Monday at 9 a.m. (Pacific time) and arrived here at around noon (Hawai'i time).

"Due to the probable arrival time at the site and after consultation with the Division II leadership, we felt it most fair to postpone the contest by one day to allow Cal Poly Pomona adequate time to adjust," Jarnecke added in the e-mail.

BYU-Hawai'i wasn't happy with the schedule change.

"For me, it's scheduled when it's scheduled," Wagner said.

He added: "We have quite a few from the Mainland who have tickets, and were scheduled to leave Wednesday."

Those who purchased tickets in advance will have them honored tonight, or can receive a refund.