Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It did not look, feel or seem close at all until the last few minutes, but ended up as a very tight four-point loss for Biola on Thursday night.
 
The Huskies of the University of Saskatchewan came down to play in the endcap of the Eagles' three-game homestand against Canadian opponents.
 
Early on the Huskies held a clear advantage, with a lead fluctuating between six and nine points through most of the first half. They built their advantage by going on a 12-4 run within the first eight minutes to get up to a nine-point lead. This lead was their biggest of the half, as slowly the Eagles began to chip away.
 
Stephon Lamar made all the difference for the Huskies in the first half. The guard directed the high-scoring Saskatchewan offense with six rebounds, nine points and seven assists through 20 minutes.
 
Mike Kurtz used accuracy from the free throw line and the floor to ring up 10 points and help Biola shrink their deficit to just four points at halftime.
 
A 17-6 run to start the second half made the game feel like a runaway win for Saskatchewan. The Huskies secured one of their biggest leads of the game, a 15-point advantage, with 13:40 to play, and the game seemed to be getting away from the Eagles.
 
The tide began to turn when Dakari Archer drove into the lane and made a layup to stop the bleeding once the Huskies got a 17-point lead. Cody Wittick then nailed a three-point shot, three of his six points on the day, to bring the deficit to 12.
 
Two more points for Archer, four for Kurtz and a two for Caelan Tiongson helped the Eagles slash the lead to six. This set up a huge three-point play by Andre Murillo and a layup by Archer that drew the Eagles to within one with just five minutes to play. It was a 16-point run.
 
The teams battled back-and-forth through the rest of the game, with BU eventually narrowing to a two-point deficit with just 23 seconds to play. They couldn't close the gap and ended up losing 79-75 to drop to 9-6 and help Saskatchewan improve to 10-2.
 
Kurtz and Archer led the way with 18 points each, Kurtz also added three blocks, and Murillo had 15 to round out Biola's double-digit scorers.
 
Biola plays one more preseason game, a matchup with West Coast Baptist next Tuesday, and then opens conference play at home against Westmont Jan. 14.