BOX SCORE

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. --- After struggling in close games throughout the first part of the season, Biola University was finally able to hold onto a late lead, beating The Master's College 65-60 in a Golden State Athletic Conference Contest Tuesday night in Santa Clarita.
 
The Eagles, who improve to 8-6 on the season and 2-2 in conference action, closed out the game on a 17-5 run after trailing by as many as 11 points midway though the second half of the game.
 
The Master's is still looking for its first conference win and drops to 4-9 overall and 0-4 in the GSAC.
 
Freshman forward Rocky Hampton led the way for Biola with16 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Senior guard Matt Emadi had 12 points while junior forward Danny Jones added 11.
 
The Master's opened the game with an 11-2 run but Biola slowly chipped away. It took a while, but the Eagles took their first lead with just over five minutes to go in the half. They extended the lead to six but had to take a one-point edge into the locker room after the Mustang's Josh Herman drilled a three as time expired.
 
In the second half, The Master's again came out on fire, using a 15-4 run to take a 51-40 lead at the 11:30 mark. The Mustangs took a 55-46 lead at 8:11 on a jumper by Lucian Pescoli, but it would be their final points in nearly seven minutes as the Eagles used a 14-0 run to take the lead, then held on for the victory.
 
Leading the way for the Master's was Isaiah Kottke, who scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
 
While both teams were 25-of-53 from the field, the big difference came at the free throw line. Biola was 14-for-19 from the charity stripe while The Master's hit just 5-of-13.
 
Biola wraps up a nine-game roadtrip with a 3-6 record and happily returns to Chase Gymnasium for its first home game in nearly seven weeks when the Eagles play host to GSAC foe Cal Baptist on Saturday (Jan. 6) at 7:30 p.m.