KANSAS CITY, Mo. --- Curtis Eatmon scored a game-high 16 points and No. 15 Biola led from start to finish advancing to the second round of the 2011 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament with a 59-48 win over Montana State-Northern on Thursday night.

The Eagles improve to 27-5 on the season with the victory, and move on to face No. 4 Louisiana State University-Shreveport in a second round game at 9:45 p.m. (CT) on Friday. The Lights end their season at 24-9.

The game was a battle of two of the top defensive teams and the final score showed it, though Biola's defense proved to be the better of the two in the end.

The Eagles held the Lights to just 32 percent shooting on the night and to just 26 percent from three-point range--the specialty of the Lights.

Biola got off to a quick start in the game, jumping out to a 9-2 lead. Montana State-Billings jumped back into the contest with a five-point run which the Eagles answered with a long 15-2 run, giving Biola a 24-9 lead capped by three-pointers by Shane Mahoney and Nate Rakestraw.

The Eagles would head to the half with a comfortable 30-17 margin as Dwight Gordon--Biola's leading scorer in the regular season--hit a bucket at the buzzer for his first points of the game.

In the second half, Montana State-Northern battled back with a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to 41-39 with 7:02 remining in the contest. But Biola was able to stretch the lead back to five with three free throws--a common theme for the Eagles down the stretch--and closed ou tthe game on an 18-9 run to hold on for the win. 

Biola hit 14-of-16 free throws over the final 5:41 of the game to secure the victory and was 16-of-21 from the field overall. 

" Our defense was very good, we took care of the ball and had good shot selection," said Biola Head Coach Dave Holmquist. "After being off for two weeks, it was good to get the opening win under our belts."

Rakestraw and Gordon each scored 10 points for the Eagles while senior forward Andrew Schroeder recorded a game-high and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds and added seven points.

Friday's second-round game between Biola and Lousiana State University - Shreveport will be broadcast online by the NAIA at http://www.watchnaia.com. Live stats will also be available on the NAIA website.

NAIA Game Notes:
Montana State-Northern: The 17 first-half points is the second-lowest output this season for the team - the Lights only netted 16 in the first half of a 55-44 loss against Westminster (Utah) on Jan. 29... Ends its season with a 9-2 record in its last 11 contests... With a team-high 13 points, junior guard La Von Myers posted his 19th game this year of at least 10 points... Leading scorer Shaun Tatarka was held to five points, which tied for his fourth-lowest total this season...  As a team, the 48 points is the lowest in this year's National Championship and fourth time a team was held under 60 points in the 2011 event.

Biola: The Eagles went on a 13-0 run in the first half and held the Lights scoreless for 8 minutes and 23 seconds... Coming into the game, Biola was ranked second in the NAIA in scoring defense (56.9 ppg)... Senior forward Andrew Schroeder tied a career-high in rebounds with 11 (last time Feb. 12 vs. San Diego Christian (Calif.))...the last time a team won with under 60 points was in the 2010 quarterfinals when Oklahoma Baptist defeated Biola 59-54.