IRVINE, Calif. --- No.3 Concordia used a 20-point run over the final 10 minutes of the game to turn a close contest into a blowout, beating No. 16 Biola 89-66 in a showdown of NAIA Top 25 teams at CU Arena on Tuesday night.
The loss snaps Biola's nine-game winning streak and drops the Eagles to 16-2 on the season and to 6-2 in GSAC play. Concordia improves to 16-2 and remains atop the conference standings with a perfect 8-0 mark.
Biola received strong nights from Dwight Gordon and Josh Miller with Gordon scoring 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting while Miller contributed 17 points and added six rebounds.
However, Biola was unable to do much to slow down Concordia over the course of the final 10 minutes.
Biola trailed by just three with 9:52 remaining as Nate Rakestraw drained a pair of free throws. It was the closest the visitors had been since the 6:10 mark of the first half. But Concordia would close out the game in a big way, starting with a three-pointer by Karlos Grier on the next possession which keyed a 15-2 run over the next four minutes.
Biola hit 5-of-14 over the final 10 minutes of the contest while Concordia was 12-of-16 from the floor to end the game including connecting on nine-straight shots over a critical six-minute stretch.
The first half started out tough for Biola, which saw Concordia open an early 19-8 lead five minutes in. Biola would use an 11-0 run over the next four minute to tie the score at 19-19 on a jumper by Miller and eventually took the lead on a Rakestraw three-pointer to make it a 26-23 game with 8:29 to go in the first half.
The lead would short-lived, though, as Ben Smith recorded a layup on the other end, followed by a Biola turnover which led to a Cameron Gliddon fast-break dunk to put Concordia back on top. Biola stayed close for the next few minutes and trailed by just one point at 30-29 with 6:10 to play in the period. But a 12-2 run by Concordia over the next four minutes put the home team back up by 11.
Biola opened the second half with a burst, quickly narrowing the Concordia lead to just six as Gordon scored the first five points of the period. The teams would stay around the six-point margin for the next eight minutes until the long run by Concordia sealed up the victory.
Justin Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, hitting 8-of-9 from the field and adding four points on free throws. Taylor King poured in 19 points and added nine rebounds while Cameron Gliddon scored 14 points.
The 89 points allowed were the most against Biola since the 2006-07 season when the Eagles surrendered 89 in a 95-89 victory over Pomona-Pitzer. The total was 17 more points than Biola had allowed this season and 37 points over its season average of points against of 52, which ranked second in the NAIA.
The victory by Concordia was its 10th-straight in the series between the two schools, having not lost to Biola since 2006. Biola still leads the all-time series 24-16.
Biola returns to action on Tuesday (Feb. 18), hosting cross-town foe Hope International University in a GSAC contest at 7:30 p.m. in Chase Gymnasium.
