Box Score EL CAJON, Calif. --- It was back-and-forth throughout, but Biola used some late scoring and work on the boards to overcome a first-half deficit and work its way to a 72-63 win over San Diego Christian in its first Golden State Athletic Conference game of the season.
The Eagles trailed by a handful throughout much of the night, including a four-point differential at the halftime break. Both teams played well through the first half making about half the shots from the floor and scoring with consistency from deep, but it was Biola's turnovers that led to the halftime deficit.
Biola coughed the ball up 10 times and had a slight disadvantage in rebounding to contribute to the small San Diego Christian lead that was in place despite Biola making a higher percentage of its shots.
Dakari Archer was in double-digits through the first 20 minutes as he led all scorers with 11 points.
Caelan Tiongson also played well through the first half by shooting 3-of-4 from the floor for six points and gathering a handful of rebounds.
Seven points was the biggest lead by either side through a tight first half.
The second half was even closer as Biola took its first lead with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation and then the teams traded points throughout the rest of the game. The Eagles overcame a lead of nine points that SDC built within the first few minutes of the half by outscoring the Hawks 16-6 over a seven-minute stretch.
The difference in the win came during a two possessions with just over a minute to play. The Eagles missed back-to-back shots but gathered back-to-back offensive rebounds to keep the attack alive with a tie score. After the second rebound
Trevor Treinen drew a foul and made two free throws to push Biola to a two-point lead.
Just a few seconds later a
Terrell Funches layup was followed immediately by a defensive rebound and fastbreak lay-in from Archer that extended the lead to four as the game headed into garbage time with about :30 to play.
After that the Eagles made six free throws down the stretch to seal the deal and walk away with a win in its first conference game of the season. Biola limited itself to just three turnovers in the second half as it upped its scoring from 33 to 39 while SDC took a five-point dip in scoring and turned the ball over more than it did in half one.
The Eagles' backcourt were the dangerous once again as Archer led all scorers with 22 and Funches added 20 of his own as they both outscored anyone on the Hawks' roster.
Biola maximized its effectiveness, especially late in the game, by owning the glass with a 34-26 rebounding advantage. The Eagles also did great work to take advantage of 17 SDC fouls by going 15-of-19 from the line
Biola improves to 10-1 (1-0 GSAC) with the victory and San Diego Christian falls to 4-3 (0-1 GSAC) with the loss. The Eagles are back on the floor Monday night in an exhibition at San Diego State on Monday night. Countable action returns Wednesday at home against Life Pacific.
