LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola's season-high four game winning streak and its three-game winning streak against ranked teams came to an end Tuesday night as No. 8 Fresno Pacific survived a roller coaster battle to win 68-55 at Chase Gymnasium.

The loss drops the Eagles to 16-6 on the season and 7-5 in GSAC play. It was just the second home loss for Biola this season. The Sunbirds, ranked No. 8 in the latest NAIA National Poll, improve to 18-4 and to 11-1 GSAC, rebounding from their first conference loss of the season last week at Cal Baptist.

Biola was led by junior forward Rocky Hampton who continued his strong play on Tuesday's with 13 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Sophomore guard Nate Rakestraw added 12 points with guard Derick Sumpter adding 10 points off the bench. 

The game proved to be quite a back-and-forth battle with the Sunbirds getting the final run to pull away late. The first run came early on as Fresno Pacific used a 9-2 run to go up 27-19 with 6:15 to play in the half. The Eagles then came right back with nine-straight points to knot the game at 27-27 just two minutes later. But, as a sign of things to come, the Sunbirds took back the lead with a three-pointer, this one from Josh Wild which started a 10-0 run. 

After trailing 39-29 at the half, Biola opened the second half on an 11-2 run to quickly pull back to within one. But again, a three-pointer by Fresno Pacific's Kevin McCaughey stopped the run. The two teams went back and forth over the next few minutes with a Josh Miller three-pointer making it 53-51 Sunbirds with 6:08 to go. 

However, Fresno Pacific responded with the final big run of the game, an 11-0 doozy of a run which stretched the lead to 13 at 64-51. The run was capped by a breakaway dunk by James Lewis Jr. which essentially sealed the deal. 

Lewis Jr. finished the night matching his GSAC-leading season average with 20 points in the contest.

Fresno Pacific's defense was the story of the game as the Sunbirds forced 14 Biola turnovers and turned them into 19 points including 14 on fast breaks. Fresno Pacific also outscored the Eagles 24-14 in the paint despite being out-rebounded 35-33. Both teams connected on eight three-pointers in the games.

Biola returns to action on Saturday (Feb. 7), traveling to face Vanguard University in a GSAC game at 7:30 p.m. in Irvine.