FULLERTON, Calif. --- No. 12 Biola had to work its magic late but managed to pull away from upset-minded Hope International University for a 62-52 win in a GSAC game on Tuesday night at Darling Pavilion.
The Eagles, who moved up to No. 12 in the latest NAIA National rankings, improve to 25-4 on the season and to 15-4 in GSAC play. The Royals drop to 13-16, 4-15 in the conference.
Dwight Gordon and Andrew Schroeder each recorded a double-double to lead Biola. Gordon scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds while Schroeder scored 11 points and pulled down 11 boards.
Curtis Eatmon also added 14 points while Rakestraw contributed 10 points and three assists in the winning effort.
Biola had to recover after poor shooting in the first half, but managed to hit over 50 percent in the second half to make up for it. The Eagles finished by hitting 43.1 percent (22-for-51) in the game while holding the Royals under 40 percent overall.
The Eagles led by as many as six at 12-6 just over nine minutes into the contest. However Hope came right back and tied the game at 12-12 with 9:31 left on back-to-back three-pointers by Aaron Woods.
The Eagles would slowly stretch their lead back to four only to see another six-point run by the Royals give the home side its first lead of the contest. Kris Rosales made it a three-point lead with a straight-away three with 1:14 to play, but Curtis Eatmon answered back with a three of his own to tie the game at 23-23. That would be the score at the break.
Biola hit just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) in the first half, but the Eagles were able to hold the Royals to just 32.1 percent (9-of-28), right around its normal opponents average.
In the second half, Biola slowly began to pull away, but still found itself with a three-point lead at 47-44 with 8:23 to play. Eatmon hit a pair of free throws to stretch the lead back up to five, then after a pair of offensive rebounds, Rakestraw hit a reverse layup to give Biola a seven point lead.
Still up by five with four minutes left, Gordon drove to the lane and was fouled, hitting the basket and converting the free throw to put Biola up 58-50.
Hope would cut it to six as Aaron Woods hit a bucket on th eother end to make it a six-point game. But that proved to be the final bucket by the Royals and Gordon would seal the game with two big buckets in the paint over the final minutes.
Kris Rosales was tough to defend for the Eagles as the Hope guard scored 13 points and seemed to hit a clutch three-pointer every time one was needed.
But Biola dominated inside and that proved to be the key. The Eagles outscored the Royals 26-10 in the paint and had a 38-27 rebounding edge.
Biola closes out the regular-season at home on Thursday, hosting Point Loma Nazarene University for Senior Night. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. with senior night festivities happening before the game.
