Box Score SANTA CLARITA, Calif. --- Senior Lamar Lee hit an off-balance runner to tie the game with one minute to play, but Devin Dyer answered back on the next possession with what proved to be the game-winning shot as Biola was upset 61-55 at The Master's College in a GSAC game on Tuesday night at Bross Gym.
The Eagles, who are ranked No. 15 in the NAIA Coaches Poll, suffer their first GSAC loss of the season, falling to 6-2 overall and to 1-1 in conference play. The Mustangs improve to 7-1 and to 1-0 in the conference.
Biola struggled from the field in the game, hitting a season-low 30.2% from the field--nearly 18 percentage points lower than its season average--but somehow managed to stay in the close game through the final minutes. That came thanks in large part to 13 offensive rebounds and just six turnovers. However, missed shots proved to cost them the game in the end.
After going over five minutes without a field goal late in the second half, Lee's impressive shot capped a team-best 17-point night and tied the game at 55-55 with 1:02 to play. However, Biola's defense, which had held The Master's without a field goal for nearly four minutes, yielded a wide open jumper to Dyer, who connected with 42 seconds on the clock to give the Mustangs back the lead for good.
Biola missed a shot on its next possession and Paul Brown hit a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to four. The Eagles would rattle a pair of three points attempts off the iron on their next possession leading to a Mustangs rebound and two more free throws to ice the game. Biola wound up hitting just one of its final 11 shots from the field over the final six minutes in the loss.
The Eagles connected on seven three-pointers in 10 attempts in the first half, but missed all 10 attempts in the second half. After shooting 43% in the opening 20 minutes, Biola was able to hit just 6-of-30 shots in the second half for a disappointing 20%.
Lee led all scorers with 17 points while
Zack Zaragoza and
Andre Murillo each added 10 points for the Eagles.
Given Kalipinde added six points and 10 rebounds, adding a pair of assists.
Biola fell behind early in the game, trailing the Mustangs 14-6 eight minutes into the contest. The Eagles would rally with a 10-2 run over the next five minutes to tie the contest at 16-16 with a
Kyle Bailey off-balance jumper capping the run. A few minutes later, BIola would take its largest lead of the game at 24-20 on a Kalipinde three-pointer and held a three-point advantage at 34-31 at the break.
In the second half, BIola opened strong and took a 46-40 lead on a
Davey Hopkins layup with 10:56 to go. But The Master's quickly responded with Leif Karlburg hitting back-to-back three-pointers to quickly tie things back up at 46-46 with 9:02 to play, setting up the exciting finish.
Neither team would lead by more than two until the final minute with a pair of free throws by Lee tying the score again at 53-53 with 4:53 to go. But 30 seconds later, The Master's would answer back with a jumper by Anthony Cammon gave the lead right back to the home team. It looked like that would be the final bucket of the game until Lee's jumper to tie it with a minute left.
Cammon led The Master's with 15 points while Karlburg added 13.
Biola returns to action on Thursday, hosting Pomona-Pitzer College in a non-conference contest at Chase Gymnasium beginning at 7:00 p.m.
