LA MIRADA, Calif. --- A packed house at Chase Gymnasium was treated to a thrilling battle between two of the top teams in the NAIA on Saturday night and neither team disappointed. In the end though it was No. 2 Concordia University pulling away late for the 66-56 victory over No. 4 Biola in the key GSAC showdown.

Biola sees its 16-game winning streak come to and end as the Eagles fall to 16-1 overall and to 6-1 in conference play. Concordia extends its school-record start to 17-0 and takes over the top spot in the GSAC with a perfect 7-0 record.

The epic clash was exciting from start to finish with the teams matching each other blow for blow. Concordia was able to score the final blows late in the contest. Senior guard Terrence Worthy, who scored a game-high 22 points, hit back-to-back three-pointers with four minutes to play and Concordia iced the game by converting its final seven free throw attempts after that.

Worthy led all scorers in the game thanks to 5-of-9 shooting beyond the arc with three of those coming in the final seven minutes of the game. Senior post Rocky Hampton led Biola with 14 points and 10 rebounds--all in the second half--and added four blocks in 29 minutes.

Senior guard Marlon King recorded 11 points and a game-high six assists.

Concordia opened the game with a 9-1 run over the first six minutes, capped by a long three-pointer from Cameron Gliddon. Biola did not help itself out much, missing its first five shots from the field--including three open shots from inside of six feet--and also turned the ball over on three other possessions.

Biola was able to close the gap quickly with a 9-1 run of its own. King's layup at the 14:25 mark keyed the run and gave the home side its first field goal of the game and Biola knotted the score at 10-10 on a jumper by Nate Rakestraw.

Concordia answered right back with four-straight points of its own in a precursor of things to come. But Biola would come back and close the gap to one just a few minutes later. This pattern would repeat the rest of the half as Concordia would take a lead only to see Biola answer right back. The two teams headed to the locker room with Concordia leading 30-27.

In the second half, Concordia again stretched the lead up to as many as six points before Biola started to rally, taking its first lead of the game on a three-point play by sophomore forward David Cline five minutes into the half. Biola held the 38-37 edge for just over a minute as A.J. Gasporra hit a three-pointer to Concordia back on top.

Two ties later, Biola took back the lead on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Clay Martin`taking a 47-45 lead with 8:53 to go. However, Worthy came right back down on the other end and drained a three-pointer just 15 seconds later to give Concordia the lead back for good.

Both teams went cold from the field over the next five minutes with Concordia holding a 52-49 lead with 4:34 left after King converted a pair of free throws. But again Worthy answered back right away with a three-pointer on the other end to stretch the lead back to six. After a Hampton putback cut the lead back to four with 3:50, Worthy drove the dagger deep with a three-pointer on the other end, giving Concordia a seven-point lead with 3:34 to go.

From there, Concordia converted its free throws, hitting 9-of-11 in the final four minutes including its final seven-straight to wrap up its 17th victory of the season against no defeats.

Both teams entered the contest ranked in the top three in scoring defense and both had to fight for each and every point. Biola shot 42 percent overall (21-of-50) in the game, but hit just 35.5 percent in the second half after connecting on 10-of-19 in the first half. Concordia hit 38.5 percent (20-of-52) overall, hitting 8-of-29 from beyond the arc with five coming in the second half.

Shooting really didn't turn out to be the determining factor, though. The turnover battle was really where the game was decided as Biola committed 16 turnovers in the game to just eight by Concordia. The visitors were able to convert those 16 turnovers into 21 points while Biola managed just eight on Concordia's miscues.

Free throws also hurt Biola which hit 9-of-15 in the game, leaving six points out on the floor. Concordia hit 18 of its 23 free throw attempts (78.3 percent).

These two teams will meet at least once more this season in a rematch down in Irvine on Saturday, Feb. 20. There is also a good shot they will square off in the GSAC Championship game on Tuesday, March 9, as the conference semifinals and finals are hosted by Biola this season.

Biola will now look to rebound with a big win on Tuesday (Jan. 19) as the Eagles host the Master's College in a GSAC clash at 7:30 p.m. at Chase Gymnasium.