Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Entering play on Thursday night, the Eagles had the unfortunate habit of picking up tough losses in close games, with seven of their 14 losses coming by five or fewer points.
 
The number grew to eight out of 15 after a heartbreaking 70-66 defeat at the hands of the No. 5-seeded Westmont Warriors on Friday night.
 
Dr. Dave Holmquist's crew hosted the Warriors for the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament First Round and entered the contest as the No. 4-seeded team in the tournament.
 
Biola and Westmont had split the season-series, with each team winning its home game. The night was the first time that these two squads met in postseason competition since 1998.
 
It was a matchup made in Heaven, as two legendary NAIA coaches squared off for the 45^th time in the last 21 seasons. Also, the two teams were both coming off of a game they played just five days ago in Santa Barbara, Calif.
 
Westmont took that one and seemed primed to take this one by a wide margin when they came storming out of the gate, sinking four of their first five shots and picking up two blocks on the defensive end within the first five minutes.
 
The Warriors built a solid eight point lead with an eight-point run at the 10:11 mark in the first half. They used two Biola fouls to get there, as Daniel Carlin made four straight free throws in the middle of the run.
 
Fouling was an issue all night long for Biola, who picked up 25 personal fouls in a very tightly called postseason contest.
 
They sent the Warriors to the charity stripe for 36 free throws, 27 of them coming in the second half when Biola was attempting to mount a rally.
 
The Eagles were forced to find a way to rally because 53.5 percent schooting and some lackadaisical defensive play by Biola helped Westmont grab a 39-28 lead at the halftime buzzer.
 
"We had some defensive breakdowns in the first half," said Holmquist. "We didn't play as hard in some situations as we needed to."
 
Rebounding was again an issue for Biola, but mostly in the first half. The Eagles were only able to grab six defensive rebounds over the entire first 20 minutes. This was partially because WC was making most of its shots, but moreso because the Warriors were able to get to all of their misses. The outboarded the Eagles 20-15 in the first frame.
 
The Eagles have been a strong second half team all season long, entering play with 111 more points scored in the second half than their opponents, and tonight was no different.
 
Biola outscored the Warriors by seven in the second potion of play, but it was, of course, not enough to overcome the sizable advantage built up by Westmont.
 
The Eagles staged two big runs in the latter portion of the contest that allowed them to get within two points of the Warriors with less than a minute and a half to play. They used an 11-3 run that ended with a Mike Kurtz jumper to get within six with 10 minutes to play, and then had to do it again as Westmont extended to an 11-point lead with just five to play.
 
A series of Warriors fouls and a big-time signature three-point play by Dakari Archer helped the Eagles put up another strong run of scoring to close the gap before eventually fouling and traveling itself to another close loss.
 
"Well, we were behind and just couldn't quite catch them," said Holmquist. "You have to play real hard for two halves and I don't think we did that."
 
Pierre Zook led Biola in scoring with 14 points, but fell behind Jason Ritchey who led all scorers with 18. Carlin also had a solid game for the Warriors, putting up 11 points from off the bench to contribute to their 22 bench points.
 
While the game ended with a close, competitive score, it really was not much of a contest as Biola only led once. The Eagles' largest, and last, lead came at the 18:44 mark of the first half.
 
The loss leaves Biola with a season-ending mark of 16-15 for the second consecutive season. The Warriors get to look forward to playing the No. 1-seeded Vanguard Lions on Saturday night in the GSAC Tournament Semifinals.  The other semifinal match is between The Master's and Hope International.
 
Biola turns the page on another season, as for the first time since the 2007-08 season the Eagles have missed the NAIA National Tournament in back-to-back years.
 
"It was a great team in terms of character, and a good basketball team on the court," said Holmquist. "We accomplished some good things. We had some big nights and some disappointing nights, but overall it was a very enjoyable group to work with."