Box Score FULLERTON, Calif. --- The celebration got put on hold Saturday night as Biola Men's Basketball lost for the first time in 2015-16 and put off Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist's 900^th career win for at least a few more nights.
 
The 8-0 Eagles went into Darlind Pavilion at Hope International on Saturday evening looking to move to 9-0 for the second consecutive season with a win. That win failed to materialize in a game that was dictated by the officials from start to finish as Biola fell to Westminster, 50-64.
 
An extremely low shooting percentage in the first half (17 percent), coupled with an inability to setup any offense or dictate any tempo in the second half (due to 30 total fouls called), led to the Eagles' loss at the hands of the NCAA Division II Griffins team.
 
The Eagles got behind the eight ball early as the team went almost three minutes before scoring its first points of the game in a half of basketball that was really difficult to watch.
 
Biola shot just 3-of-18 from the field through the first 20 minutes of play as it entered the locker room trailing by five points, 18-23. That five point deficit was a gift as the Griffins were shooting two times better than BU but simply could not pull down any rebounds as Biola led the rebound race 25-12.
 
Terrell Funches and Dakari Archer both led the team with five points at the half. Two players from Westminster also went into the break with five points as no one was putting forth an outstanding individual performance.
 
Half two saw better shooting from the floor for both teams, but it was only because there were not many shots being thrown towards the backboard as the fouls called stacked up one after the other as the officials controlled the game with their whistles.
 
The Eagles had a player foul out of a game for the first time this season and nearly had two others ejected as Archer and Trevor Treinen both ended with four fouls each. The 26 fouls called on Biola tied the team's season-high.
 
As the frustration piled on so did the margin of victory for the Griffins as Westminster went 24-for-28 on their second-half free throws to build to the eventual 14-point advantage.
 
In the end a night that never felt like it would end in celebration ran that exact course and Biola will hit practice hard on Monday in an effort to sure up its shooting, fix its 17 turnovers and really just get its swagger back.
 
Funches led the team with 16 points and added six boards, but even he had plenty to work on from this one as he went just 4-of-14 from the field.
 
Biola falls to 8-1 while the Griffins improved to 2-0. The Eagles will have another chance to win coach Holmquist his 900^th on Tuesday night in Chase Gym. Biola hosts Bethesda at 7:30 p.m.