FULLERTON, Calif. --- Biola survived a late rally and overcame a six-point halftime deficit to pull out a 61-57 victory over Hope International University in its final game of the regular season Monday night at Darling Pavilion in Fullerton.

The Eagles wrap up the regular season at 26-4, their most wins since the 2004-05 season, and wrap up second place in the conference with a 16-4 mark. The Royals finish 4-26 and go 0-20 in conference play.

Biola heads to the GSAC tournament as the No. 2 seed and will against No. 7 California Baptist University in a rematch of the 2008-09 first-round meeting on Thursday (Mar. 4) at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles also host the GSAC semifinals and finals which take place on Saturday (Mar. 6) and Tuesday (Mar. 9). Tickets for all three rounds can be purchased online through the Biola Athletics website by clicking the link at http://athletics.biola.edu/tickets.

Hope did not end the season without a fight, though, hitting 52.3 percent of its shots from the field--the highest percentage against the top-ranked Biola defense this season. However, the Eagles answered the second-half bell by hitting 16-of-26 from the field and doing just enough to escape with the victory.

Senior post Rocky Hampton led all scorers with 23 points, hitting 10-of-14 from the field and adding five rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Josh Miller contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds--his second double-double of the season--also adding two assists and two steals.

Things seemed to get off on the right foot for Biola, which jumped out quickly to a 12-4 lead just 5:34 into the game. Hampton capped the opening run by scoring on three-straight Biola possessions including a three-point play which gave the Eagles an early eight-point advantage.

Biola still held a seven-point lead at 18-11 just over 11 minutes into the game, but fell cold the rest of the half. The Eagles could muster just four points during the final nine minutes of the period as the Royals outscored them 16-4 to take a 28-22 halftime lead.

Biola wasted little time getting back into the game in the second half, opening on a 13-2 run over the first four minutes to take a 35-32 lead. Just four minutes later, Biola went back up by seven on a layup by Hampton. After the Royals pulled back to a tie at 48-48 with 6:32 left, Biola answered back and took its largest lead of the game thanks to a 10-2 run as Hampton took over. The senior scored on four-straight possessions, hitting a layup to make it a 57-49 game with 4:32 to play.

Hope made one final push as the Eagles went quiet again. Buai Tut hit a layup with 34 seconds left cutting Biola's lead to 59-57. But Danny Campbell hit a pair of clutch free throws with 22 seconds left and two last-second three-point attempts by Hope missed as Biola escaped with the victory.

Tut and Marco Torovic led the Royals with 17 points each. Tut, who had just seven points when the two met earlier in the season, was 7-of-12 from the field and added eight rebounds. Kris Rosales had 10 points and 10 assists, missing a triple-double by two rebounds.

The Royals become one of just four teams to shoot over 50 percent against Biola this season. Oddly enough, the Eagles are 3-1 in those games with the lone loss coming up at Fresno Pacific where a late dunk gave the Sunbirds a 50 percent shooting night.

Other GSAC Quarterfinal games include No. 1 Concordia hosting No. 8 Point Loma Nazarene, No. 3 Azusa Pacific battling No. 6 The Master's College, and No. 4 Fresno Pacific taking on No. 5 Westmont. All games are slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the site of the higher seed.

Should Biola win its opening game, the Eagles could be facing arch-rival Azusa Pacific University in a conference semifinal game on Saturday, provided the Cougars can defeat The Master's for the first time this season. Saturday's semifinals will be at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. with the GSAC Championship game taking place on Tuesday (Mar. 9) at 7:30 p.m. Once again, tickets are available online by clicking the link at http://athletics.biola.edu/tickets.