KANSAS CITY --- Biola survived its worst half of in recent memory, a half which featured just one field goal over the first 10 minutes of the second period, pulling away late for a 66-54 victory over Belhaven University (Miss.) in a first-round game at the 2010 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Men's Basketball National Championships late Wednesday night.

The Eagles improve to 28-5 on the season and advance to face local favorite Park University in a second-round game on Friday afternoon at 6:15 pm (CT). Park, from nearby Parkville, knocked off No. 11 Georgetown College (Ky.),  83-75 earlier in the day.

After an impressive first half staked Biola to a 10-point lead at the break, the Eagles came out flat in the second, hitting just one out of its first 14 shots over the first 10 minutes. The poor shooting streak allowed the Blazers to get back into the game. Belhaven would eventually take its only lead of the game with 6:30 to go, but Biola managed to pull away with some clutch late shooting and by converting from the free throw line.

Biola finished the game shooting just 34.6 percent, its worst shooting performance of the season. However, the Eagles converted 28-of-43 from the free throw line to help make up for the poor shooting from the field.

Part of the problem for the Eagles may have been the late hour. The game was the final one of a busy first day and didn't tip off until 11:15 p.m. local time.

"We started off really well, but then we began to play like we were playing at midnight," said Head Coach Dave Holmquist. "It's just nice to win the first game.

"We looked tired tonight," said Holmquist. "I think the first game back here with the travel and sitting around the hotel for a few days, sometimes you don't shoot as well as you do at home. Hopefully by the second round we will shoot a lot better."

Biola got off to an impressive start, jumping out to a quick 13-0 lead before Belhaven scored its first bucket of the game nearly five minutes into the game. The Eagles would lead by double-digits for much of the first half and lead by 14 with 2:08 to go thanks to a putback dunk by David Cline. Biola would head to the half leading 35-25 after shooting 44.8 percent in the period.

But the story changed quickly in the second half. The Eagles missed their first eight shots of the period, allowing Belhaven to cut the lead to one at 40-39 with 14:08 to go. Biola would get its first bucket of the second half on the next possession as Cline would hit a layup to stretch it back to three.

It would another four minutes before either team scored again with the Blazers hitting a pair of free throws at the 10:30 mark. But a clutch steal by Nate Rakestraw led to a fastbreak layup by Marlon King to make it a three-point game again at 44-41 with 10:06 to go.

Again, the Eagles went quiet offensively and Belhaven took advantage with baskets on back-to-back possessions to take their first lead at 45-44 with 6:36 left.

Biola responded quickly, again, as Josh Miller converted a pair of free throws on the next possession to take the lead back. Two minutes later, Biola still led by three, but got a big putback layup by Rocky Hampton to take a five-point lead at 52-47 with 3:22 left. Hampton came through with another clutch putback on the Eagles' next possession to stretch the lead to seven.

From there, Biola clamped down on the defensive end, holding Belhaven to just two field goals the rest of the way and converting enough free throws to seal the deal.

"We came out really strong tonight and set a good tempo in the first half, but when we came back out in the second half we couldn't get anything going," said Hampton. "It was an overall good team effort for us which was good. Someone stepped up when we needed them to step up and that was awesome for us."

The Eagles played an incredibly balanced game with eight different players scoring. Danny Campbell led all scorers with 18 points--13 of which came from the free throw line. Hampton added 12 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots while Miller contributed nine points and nine rebounds including six on the offensive glass.

Despite its poor shooting, Biola held Belhaven to just 35 percent shooting on the night and allowed just 54 points, four under its NAIA-best 58.1 ppg average.

"The shots just weren't falling for us in the second half," said Campbell. "It was kind of an off start to the half for us but we came through in the end.

"I felt like we came out really hard, but we had a couple of letdowns," said Campbell. "We let them hit a couple of fastbreak shots in the second half and we let our intensity down. For the next couple of rounds we can't let that happen."

"We didn't play our best game, obviously, but Belhaven is a good team," said Holmquist. "What I felt good about is that we really had to make some plays over the final five minutes and we did."

Biola's second-round opponent will provide a tough challenge as well. Park University is located in Parkville, Missouri, which is a suburb of Kansas City. The Pirates are 23-9 overall and led the NAIA in steals this season, averaging 13 per game. Park also ranked 13th in scoring defense (63.9) and 14th in scoring margin (+12.1 ppg).