LA MIRADA, Calif. --- On a night dedicated to Head Coach Dave Holmquist, Biola practiced what he has preached for the last 34 years, holding California Baptist University to just 49 points in a 67-49 GSAC victory on Saturday night at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles bounce back from a tough loss on Tuesday and improve to 19-3 on the season, holding firm in third place in the conference with a 9-3 record. The Lancers drop to 11-10 and 5-7 in GSAC.

Saturday was dubbed "Dave Holmquist Day" at Biola as the school turned out in droves to honor Coach Holmquist, who became just the 16th men's basketball coach ever to win 800 games by beating the University of Fraser Valley on December 27.

Over the course of his career, Holmquist has preached defense with his teams routinely ranking among the best in the NAIA in scoring defense. This year is no exception as the Eagles entered the contest allowing just 56.2 points per game--second in the NAIA this season.

In the first half, Biola held the Lancers to just 6-of-23 shooting (26.1 percent) and opened up a commanding lead early on.

Neither team shot well through the first 10 minutes of the game as the teams combined for 13 points. But the Eagles caught fire after that as Nate Rakestraw and Elliot Tan hit back-to-back three pointers to put the home side up 14-5 with 8:29 to play in the half.

Biola would stretch the lead up to as many as 12 before heading to the half with a 27-17 lead. It was the 11th time this season the Eagles held an opponent to 20 or fewer points in a half. 

Cal Baptist closed the gap to nine briefly a few minutes into the second half, but Biola quickly scored seven-straight points to take its largest lead to that point and never looked back.

Despite the Lancers shooting a more respectable 45 percent in the second half, the Eagles just missed out on its season-best shooting half, hitting 60.9 percent (14-of-23). 

Dwight Gordon led all scorers with 21 points for the Eagles, hitting 8-of-13 from the field and adding six assists, a block and a steal. Rakestraw contributed 13 points while Shane Mahoney came off the bench to score 10 points.

Biola's next game should be a big one as the Eagles welcome arch-rival and No. 5-ranked Azusa Pacific to Chase Gymnasium on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are required for the game and can be purchased at the Biola University Bookstore on Monday.