SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --- Biola could not hold on to a 12-point second half lead and saw a late potential game-tying layup rattle out in a 71-67 upset loss at Westmont College in a GSAC game on Tuesday night at Murchison Gymnasium.
The Eagles, ranked No. 16 in the latest NAIA National Rankings, fall to 18-3 on the season and to 8-3 in conference play. The Warriors improve to 15-5 and to 7-4 in conference play.
Nate Rakestraw led Biola with 17 points, scoring 13 in the first half to help the Eagles establish an early advantage. Dwight Gordon added 12 and Curtis Eatmon and Josh Miller each contributed 10.
The Eagles had a tough time inside against the Warriors, playing without starting center Andrew Schroeder, who missed his first game in over a year while battling the flu. As a result, the Warriors held a 37-26 rebounding advantage including a 12-6 edge on the offensive glass, leading to 15 second chance points by the home side. They also outscored Biola 30-16 in the paint.
Despite leading by as many as 12 in the second half, Biola was unable to contain Westmont late as the Warriors fought back and took a lead with five minutes to play. A frantic finish gave the Eagles a chance to tie the game with 13 seconds left, but a jumper by David Cline from the right block rattled out.
Biola broke open a close first half with strong play in the final 10 minutes, breaking a 19-19 tie with a 10-2 run over a four minute stretch, going up 29-21 on a Dwight Gordon layup with 5:20 left before half. After Westmont closed to within four, Biola closed the half with five-sraight capped by a three-pointer by Clay Martin, to go up 35-26 at intermission.
Gordon opened the second half with a three to give the Eagles their largest lead of the game to that point at 38-26. Gordon would hit a pair of free throws with 15 minutes left to keep Biola's lead at 11, but Westmont responded with back-to-back three-point plays to cut the lead down to five at 46-41 within the span of just 50 seconds.
That would begin an extended 20-8 run which saw Westmont take back the lead on a driving layup by Preston Branson, making it 55-54 with 7:20 to play.
Westmont would go up by as many as five and had a chance to close out the contest with just over a minute to play, but Blake Bender left the door open when he missed a pair of free throws with 1:08 to go. Miller made him pay by hitting a three out of the corner. After a pair of free throw makes by Branson, Eatmon drained a three from the top of the key to make it a one-point game with 29 seconds left.
Niko Brooks was sent to the line after a quick Biola foul, but made just one of two free throws to give Biola life with 20 seconds left. The Eagles came right down the floor ran a quick play leading to the wide-open attempt by Cline on the right block, but his potential game-tying shot rattled off and was rebounded by the Warriors. Westmont hit its final two free throws to seal the deal.
After scoring just 46 points in a loss at Biola earlier this year, Westmont tallied 45 in its big second half on Tuesday night. The Warriors shot 50 percent from the field in the final stanza after hitting just 37 percent in the first half.
Blake did the most damage for the Warriors in the second half, scoring 19 of his game-high 25 points in the final 20 minutes including going 11-of-11 from the free throw line.
The Eagles
Biola returns to action on Saturday hosting California Baptist University in a GSAC clash at Chase Gymnasium beginning at 7:30 p.m. The night has been dubbed "Dave Holmquist Night" as the Biola community will celebrate Coach Holmquist becoming just the 16th men's bsaketball coach to ever win 800 games. Only had 46 points at Biola.
