KANSAS CITY, Mo. --- Biola's men's basketball team has finished its practices and gone through the pomp and circumstance of the tournament festivities. Now all that is left is to play. The Eagles will do just that on Thursday morning, taking on No. 6 seed Westminster College at 8:15 a.m. PST in the opening round of the 2009 NAIA National Tournament.

Biola wrapped up the regular season with a 22-9 record, finishing fourth in the Golden State Athletic Conference and earning the last of 14 available at-large berths in the tournament field.

It is the 16th appearance by the Eagles in the NAIA Tournament, the fifth-most of any current NAIA team and the seventh-most overall. They have an overall record of 19-15 at the NAIA Championship tournament, which features 31 games over a six-day span. Biola's best finish came in 1981-82 when the team reached the final before losing its first game of the season and placing second overall.

However, Biola is making just its first tournament appearance in four seasons, making this trip just a bit more special. Assistant Coach B.J. Foster said the team has had a good time in Kansas City so far, but still has business to take care of.

"It is always an honor to get back to the tournament," said Foster. "It is a reward for a good season. We've come back and enjoyed the festivities but we have to go to work tomorrow.

"We received a tough draw and playing an early game from the west coast makes it even tougher," said Foster. "We've been getting everyone up at 6:30 a.m. this week and today is the first day that their bodies felt good. We have also tried to practice as early as possible to help us get used to having to play so early in the day. Now, we have been trying to get their minds prepared for playing hard. That's all we want to do is play hard and do the intangibles and we think we will have a good shot." 

Biola defense wrapped up the regular season as the best in the NAIA, allowing just 56.7 points per game. The Eagles' magic number seemed to be 60 as they were able to go 17-2 when they allowed 60 or fewer points, but just 5-7 when allowing more than 60.

Biola also led the GSAC in rebounding margin (+5.8) and blocks (104, 3.47/game). A lot of the thanks for those numbers come from the Eagles' impressive pair of post players in junior Rocky Hampton and sophomore Josh Miller. 

Hampton, who repeated as an All-GSAC selection, led the conference and was seventh in the NAIA in blocked shots, recording 71 on the season and averaging nearly 2.5 per game. He also ranked third in the GSAC in rebounding (8.6/game) and was 17th overall in scoring (12.2/game).

Miller, in his first season with the Eagles after transferring from the University of San Diego, averaged 11.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game this season.

Biola Head Coach Dave Holmquist leads the Eagles back to the NAIA Tournament as one of the winningest coaches in NAIA history. Coach Holmquist picked up his 750th career victory as the Eagles won at The Master's College on January 20. Overall, he has won 759 games in his career (entering the GSAC tournament) with 723 coming as the Head Coach at Biola. 

The Eagles open the tournament against Westminster College, the champions of the Frontier Conference. The Griffins enter the tournament with a record of 28-4 and a perfect 4-0 mark against the GSAC this season. Westminster is making its ninth trip to the tournament and is 1-9 overall. This is the eighth time the team has made an appearance under the direction of Head Coach Tommy Connor, who is in his 10th season at Westminster.

The Griffins boast an impressive offense, which averages 78.4 points per game. They have been held under 70 points just four times this season, yet are still 3-1 in those contests.

"Westminster is a very good team," said Foster. "They are well coached, play hard, are unselfish and are tough on defense. They were ranked the top team in the country at one point and are the best team out of a difficult conference. Even though we statistically have the best defense in the NAIA, we are still going to have to work very hard to slow them down."

Senior forward Geoff Payne leads the team in scoring at 20.8 points per game and is the only Westminster player averaging in double-digits in scoring. He also is averaging 7.4 rebounds per game and is shooing 66 percent from the field overall.

"Payne is a great player and might be the best player in the NAIA--or at least one of the best." said Foster. "He is very athletic and will pose a big challenge for us

Already, the first day of the tournament has seen numerous upsets including losses by the No. 1 and No. 4 teams in the field. Even No. 9 Fresno Pacific wasn't immune from the upset bug as little Tougaloo College scored a 69-67 win over the GSAC regular-season champs on an offensive rebound and putback as time expired.

"We have been telling the guys from the beginning that seeding doesn't really matter in this tournament," said Foster. "All of the teams are pretty equal. It just comes down to who plays the hardest, smartest and who wants its more. It's more of a grind out there in the first round, so hopefully that benefits us."

"The team has been practicing well out here the attitude has been that we aren't going to lay down," said Foster. "It was good to see all of the games today to help paint of picture of what it's like out here. I expect a good effort from the guys and am looking forward to tomorrow."

All of the tournament games can be seen live on the Internet through the NAIA and JumpTV by visiting http://www.watchnaia.com.