LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Senior guard
Dwight Gordon continued his early-season dominance with 18 points as Biola opened GSAC play with a key 65-46 victory over Westmont College on Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium.
The Eagles, ranked No. 16 in the NAIA Preseason Poll, remain the lone undefeated team in the GSAC at 6-0 and moves to 1-0 in conference play. The Warriors fall to 5-2 and to 0-1 in the GSAC.
Gordon had a solid night, scoring 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, adding six steals, three blocks and five rebounds. He was one of five Biola players to reach double-figures on the night. Joining him was senior post
Andrew Schroeder with 13 points and seven rebounds and
Clay Martin,
Nate Rakestraw and
Curtis Eatmon, each with 10 points.
The game proved to be close early on with Biola holding a variety of leads early on. Leading 16-15 with just over nine minutes to go in the first half, the Eagles clamped down on defense and closed the half with an 11-5 run to go up 27-20 at intermission.
Biola held the Warriors to just 29 percent (7-of-24) shooting in the first half and just 2-of-11 shooting over the final nine minutes.
The Eagles opened the second half on a 12-4 run to blow the game open and eventually hold a 51-31 lead at the midway point of the second half. Biola wound up outscoring Westmont 35-16 over the final 10 minutes of the first half and first 10 minutes of the second.
The Warriors used a quick seven-point run to cut the lead to 13 with eight minutes left, but the Eagles would respond with 14-4 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 65-42 with just over two minutes left.
Biola shot a respectable 46 percent in the contest while holding Westmont to 36.4 percent shooting. The Eagles, who rank second in the NAIA in scoring defense, held their fourth-straight opponent under 50 points.
The road will get significantly tougher over the next week as Biola remains in conference play. The Eagles travel to Riverside to face California Baptist University on Saturday beginning at 7:30, then face top-ranked Azusa Pacific University on the road on Tuesday at 7:30.
