LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola rebounded from its first loss of the season with a 71-57 victory over The Master's College in a GSAC game on Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium.
The Eagles improve to 17-1 on the season and to 7-1 in the GSAC while dropping the Mustangs to 12-6 and 5-3 in conference play.
Senior guard
Danny Campbell poured in a team-high 22 points, connecting on 8-of-13 from the field including 5-of-9 from three-point range. Senior center
Rocky Hampton added 18 points and 14 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. He also had three blocks in the game and was 7-of-10 from the field overall.
In the first half, The Master's scored the opening basket, but Biola went on a 12-3 run to take an early eight-point lead. But the Mustangs responded with a brief 9-2 run to pull within one only to see Biola stretch the lead quickly back to six. The Master's again used a short run to tie the score at 21-21 with 2:03 left in the half, but a pair of free throws by Hampton and a three-pointer by Campbell quickly gave Biola back a five-point lead and the Eagles would head to the half with a six-point lead.
In the second half, The Master's opened with seven-straight points capped by a pair of free throws by Joey Fuca to take its first lead since a 2-0 advantage 24 seconds into the game. But Biola did not let that lead last too long as Campbell came right back down and answered with a three-pointer just 11 seconds later. That trey would spark a 23-9 run over the next 10 minutes to take a 52-39 lead at the 7:08 mark.
The Master's pulled within nine on a Fuca three-pointer with 6:24 left, but Campbell put the game away, hitting a three-pointer off an offensive rebound to restore the double-digit lead. It was the closest The Master's would get the rest of the way as Biola pulled off the 14-point victory.
Biola held a 37-22 edge in rebounds in the game led by Hampton's strong performance in the low post. Hampton was matched up against Raphael Harris for much of the game. The two senior centers are among the top three in rebounding and blocks in the conference. However, while Hampton posted the double-double, the Eagles held Harris to nine points, three rebounds and two blocks.
Biola shot an impressive 57.9 percent in the pivotal second half, hitting 11-of-19 from the field including 4-of-9 from three-point range. More impressive, though, was that the Eagles connected on 19-of-22 from the free throw line. Biola, which was ranked near the bottom of the NAIA in free throw shooting earlier this season, has hit 49 of its last 60 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles return to action on Saturday (Jan. 23), traveling to California Baptist University for a big GSAC matchup beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Lancers, who had their game tonight at Point Loma Nazarene moved to Wednesday due to a power outage, are 11-6 overall, but 8-1 at home.
