Box Score CLAREMONT, Calif. --- Biola fell victim to a three-point barrage by Pomona-Pitzer and lost 70-62 in a non-conference game on Wednesday night in Claremont.
The Eagles drop their second-straight game and fourth in their last five contests, falling to 8-6 on the season. The Sagehens improve to 8-3 including a pair of wins over GSAC teams.
Zack Zaragoza led Biola with 23 points while Mike Kurtz added 14. However, the Eagles could not stop the outside attack of Pomona-Pitzer, which scored 33 points from three-point range including 24 of its 41 first-half points from beyond the arc.
The Eagles fell behind early as Pomona-Pitzer used a 15-0 run over a six-minute stretch to take a commanding 29-11 lead midway through the first half. Biola closed the gap a bit with a quick seven-point run, but the Sagehens scored eight-straight to take its largest lead of the half at 39-20 with 3:22 left in the half.
Biola closed the gap with a layup and three-pointer in the final minute but still trailed 41-27 as the teams headed to the half. When all was said and done, eight of 12 made field goals by the Sagehens were three-pointers in the first half.
Pomona-Pitzer switched things up a bit in the second half, taking the game inside more, hitting just three three-pointers in the period but still scoring 29 points overall. The teams went back and forth over the first 10 minutes before the Eagles started to cut into the lead, narrowing it to 12 on a few occasions but unable to get much closer.
Biola would eventually pull it back to a single-digit Pomona-Pitzer lead on a layup by Jordan Searby which made it 65-56 with 2:56 left. After a Sagehen bucket made it an 11-point game, Biola would get it back to eight with a three-pointer by Zaragoza to make it 67-59 with 1:18 to go.
The Eagles had a number of fouls to give and finally put the Sagehens on the line with 43 seconds left. But Pomona-Pitzer made its free throws to stretch it back to a 10-point game, adding one after a missed Biola three-point attempt. The Eagles again closed it to eight with 25 seconds left on another three by Zaragoza but could get no closer the rest of the way.
Kyle McAndrews led Pomona-Pitzer with 20 points while Xavyr Moss added 11 points.
Biola returns to action on Thursday night, hosting UC Merced--a second-year program--in a non-conference game at 7:30 p.m. in Chase Gymnasium.
