COSTA MESA, Calif. --- For the second time in as many meetings, Biola took No. 2 Vanguard to the wire, but for the second time, the Lions escaped with the victory, this time defeating the Eagles 62-56 in a GSAC game Saturday night at The Pit in Costa Mesa.

Biola, ranked No. 19 in the latest NAIA rankings, drops to 14-7 on the season and to 7-6 in GSAC play, dropping into fifth place in the GSAC behind Tuesday's opponent Azusa Pacific.

Vanguard remains atop the GSAC standings with a 12-1 record, rebounding from its first GSAC loss on Tuesday against Point Loma Nazarene. The Lions are now 19-3 overall.

Senior forward Megann Alberts led all scorers with 18 points and added eight rebounds and three assists. Alberts, who scored a season-high 29 points in her last game, marked the ninth time this season she has scored 15 points or more including four times in the last seven games.

Sophomore guard Jennifer French added 13 points thanks in large part to 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the three-point line. French also had four assists in the contest.

The two teams opened the game with a back-and-forth battle, with neither team able to really open up a lead in the early going. A three-pointer by Lauren Gustafson pulled Biola to within one at 16-15 with 7:38 to go before the half. However, Vanguard would clamp down on defense and close out the half on a 9-2 run to take a 25-17 lead to the locker room.

In the second half, French drained a three-pointer 40 seconds into the period to cut the gap to five, but the Lions responded with a pair of three-pointers of their own and worked the lead to 33-22 at the 17:39 mark. Biola went on a quick 8-0 run after that to trim the lead to just three at 33-30 with 14:06 to play.

However, the Eagles again went into a bit of a scoring funk as Vanguard extended its lead back to double-digits, taking its largest lead of the game at 50-38 on a three-pointer by Rachel Copeland with 8:20 to play.

The Lions still led by seven with just over five minutes to go, but Biola mounted one final charge thanks to back-to-back three's by Elise Paty and French which cut the lead to three. After trading free throws, the Eagles made it a two point game with 1:12 to play on a deep three by Charrise Reece which made it a 58-56 game. After forcing a turnover, the Eagles had a chance to tie, but a shot by French was blocked by Paige Halberg. The Lions recovered the loose ball and hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

Copeland led Vanguard with 13 points while Jaclyn Blied and Diana Neves each added 12 points.

The game ended up being a long-range battle with both teams attempting a total of 56 shots from beyond the arc. Vanguard hit 10-of-32 from three-point range while Biola scored 8-of-24 form long distance. The Eagles hadn't hit a three-pointer in nearly 57 minutes coming into the game, ended up hitting the most since recording nine three's at Point Loma in early December.

Alberts continued her strong play as of late and continued to slowly work her up the all-time career lists at Biola. Her 18 points give her 1,722 in her career which is fifth on the all-time list. She is just 82 points out of fourth place and just 104 points out of third with at least eight games remaining in her career. She also ranks second with 841 rebounds and fourth with 106 blocked shots.

Biola's next game comes on Tuesday (Feb. 10) as the Eagles face off against their arch-rival Azusa Pacific University in Azusa. Biola won the first game between the two earlier this year and will look to sweep season series for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Tickets for the games are available directly from Azusa Pacific. Information on how to get tickets is available at http://www.apu.edu/athletics/tickets/.