SAN DIEGO, Calif. ---
Josh Miller scored 21 points and
Dwight Gordon added 20 as Biola picked up its fourth-straight win over Point Loma Nazarene with a 78-70 victory in a GSAC game Thursday night at Golden Gym.
The Eagles improve to 18-2 on the season and close out the first half of conference play with an 8-2 record. The Sea Lions drop to 9-9 overall and to 5-4 in GSAC action.
Miller's point total was a career high and marked his fifth game in double-figures in the last seven contests. He hit 8-of-11 from the field and added nine rebounds, just missing out on his first double-double of the season.
Gordon scored 20 points with 10 coming from the free throw line late in the game.
David Cline came off the bench to score 10 for the Eagles.
After a back-and-forth start, Biola started to pull away late in the first half, kicking off a 16-4 run which stretched into the early part of the second to take a 10-point lead. The Eagles closed out the first half with an unconvential three-point play.
Clay Martin was fouled with one second left in the period and made the first of two free throws. After missing the second,
David Cline tapped the rebound back off the glass and in as the buzzer sounded.
Biola opened the second half with four-straight points from
Dwight Gordon followed by a bucket by
Curtis Eatmon and three-pointer by
Nate Rakestraw. The triple gave the Eagles their largest lead to that point at 43-33.
The Eagles went up 59-47 on a pair of free throws by Miller with 5:41 to play. However they went cold after that, going four minutes without a field goal as the Sea Lions whittled the lead down late.
Point Loma began to foul down the stretch, sending the Eagles to the line for much of the final three minutes. The strategy worked a bit as the Sea Lions cut the lead down to as few as four points on a three-point play by Klassen with 2:34 to play.
But the Eagles did their job and converted 15-of-22 free throw attempts over the final three minutesto rebuff the PLNU charge. Junior
David Cline's thunderous slam after a missed three-pointer put the finishing touches on things.
While both teams hit exactly 50 percent from the field and Point Loma hit seven three-pointers to Biola's two, the difference came at the free throw line. With the Sea Lions sending the Eagles to the line so much over the final two minutes, Biola ended up with 39 free throw attempts and hit 20 of them. Point Loma did not convert well from the charity stripe, making just 9-of-20.
The Eagles have now won four-straight games against Point Loma and five of the last six games between the two overall. That stretch comes after six-straight wins by the Sea Lions.
The second half of the GSAC season for Biola begins at Westmont on Tuesday as the Eagles head to Santa Barbara for a key conference match-up. Biola won 65-46 when the two met in La Mirada way back in November. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
