BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. — Sophomore Rocky Hampton's jumper in the lane with two seconds to play completed a huge comeback by Biola and lifted the Eagles to a 51-49 upset win over arch-rival Azusa Pacific University in front of a capacity crowd of 2,500 at Chase Gymnasium in La Mirada.
Biola wraps up the regular season with a 17-13 overall record and a 9-11 mark in GSAC play. Azusa Pacific, which entered the game ranked No. 15 in the latest NAIA National Poll, dropped to 21-9 and 14-6 in conference action.
In addition to a huge win over their arch-rivals, the Eagles' victory also assured them of the eighth and final spot in the GSAC Tournament. It also extends Biola's streak of consecutive season with a playoff appearance to 34 years. The Eagles will open the playoffs on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Concordia University, which wrapped up its second-straight regular season GSAC title with a win over Cal Baptist on Monday night.
Biola pulled out the improbable victory thanks to a comeback for the ages as the Eagles trailed the Cougars by 15 points at 41-26 with 14:32 to play in the game. Just as it seemed as though all hope was lost, Biola went on a 20-4 run over the next 10 minutes to come roaring back and take its first lead of the game at 46-45 with 4:33 to play on an acrobatic layup by Marlon King.
The Eagles would extend their lead to three on a pair of free throws by Danny Jones, who finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds. APU's David Burgess would respond with a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game with 2:43 to play, the Davon Roberts gave the Cougars the lead back with a jumper with exactly 1:00 left on the clock.
However, a quick foul by APU put King at the charity stripe where he hit one of two to tie the game at 49-49. Hampton then fouled Roberts–a favorite for GSAC Player of the Year honors–sending him to the line with 31 seconds to go. But Roberts missed both free throws, giving Biola a final shot for the win.
The Eagles milked the clock looking for the final shot with King beginning the play with under 10 seconds to go. A few quick passes found the ball in the hands of Jones, who was quickly double-teamed leaving Hampton all alone under the basket. Jones found the open Hampton who put in a nearly uncontested jumper from a couple feet out to give Biola the 51-49 lead with 1.9 seconds to go.
After a quick APU timeout, the Cougars' final rush down the court was thwarted by Jones, who knocked the ball away as the horn sounded to seal the win for Biola.
The Eagles closed out the game on a 25-8 run and had an 11-0 stretch from the 9:33 mark until they took the lead with 4:33 to go.
Hampton finished with a game-highs of 14 points and 13 rebounds, adding a pair of blocked shots. Danny Campbell added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting after a frustrating 0-for-9 night at APU earlier this season. Josh Salo scored just six points in the game, but hit back-to-back three pointers during Biola's 11-0 run, the final one cutting the APU lead to one at 45-44.
Todd Martin had 14 points for the Cougars with Roberts adding 12 and six rebounds.
As it turned out, the Eagles had to win in order to clinch the eighth playoff spot as Westmont's Andrew Schmalbach hit a three-pointer with four seconds left to give the Warriors an 81-79 win over The Master's College. However, while Westmont was celebrating its win, Biola was closing the gap on APU with King's jumper to give the Eagles the lead coming just moments after the Westmont game went final. The Warriors and Eagles finish the season with identical 9-11 conference records, but Biola earned the final spot by virtue of the tiebreaker.
Biola opens the GSAC playoffs on Thursday (Mar. 6) with a trip to Irvine to face the top seed and GSAC Champions Concordia University at 7:30 p.m. at the CUI Arena. Biola dropped both games to Concordia this season, but hope that the third time is a charm.
