LA MIRADA, Calif. --- A pair of long, scoreless droughts proved to be to much for Biola to over come as the Eagles lost 73-61 to arch-rival Azusa Pacific University in a GSAC game on Tuesday night in front of 1,728 fans at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles had their three-game winning streak snapped with the loss and drop to 10-4 on the season and to 1-3 in conference play. The Cougars move to 9-5 and 2-2 in the GSAC.

Biola was led by sophomore Nate Rakestraw, who scored 19 points. Junior Marlon King added 17 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Eagles while sophomore forward Josh Miller recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Eagles--like just about all of APU opponents this year--had a tough time stopping junior Dominique Johnson, who scored a game-high 22 points for the Cougars. Mike Caffese added a career-high 19 points--11 from the free throw line--and also contributed six assists and a pair of steals in the winning effort.

After falling behind 13-7 early in the first half, Biola came roaring back with a 19-4 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 26-17 with 5:27 to go before the half. But the Eagles went ice-cold the rest of the period, as APU closed out the half on a 9-0 run to tie the score at 26-26 at intermission.

In the second, the teams exchanged points through the first three minutes before another cold spell by the Eagles put the game out of reach. With the score tied at 30-30, Azusa Pacific scored the next 12-straight points over a three-minute stretch to take a 42-30 lead and would not look back. 

Biola managed to close the gap to seven points on a pair of occasions, but could get no closer. The Cougars, which had made a habit of struggling in the final five minutes of games this season, would have no such trouble down the stretch on Tuesday. Azusa hit the vast majority of their free throws down the stretch and held off a determined Biola squad for the 12-point victory.

The Eagles did have a decided 24-16 edge in the paint and a 16-5 advantage in second-chance points, but received just two points from their non-starters. 

Biola will look to rebound from the disappointing loss on Saturday (Jan. 10). The Eagles travel to face San Diego Christian in a GSAC road game at 7:30 p.m. in El Cajon.