Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It was another fantastic 20 minutes for Biola Men's Basketball, but a lackluster effort in the second half leads to a 54-66 loss to Vanguard on the Eagles' senior night.
 
Colin Bossio, Mike Kurtz and Pierre Zook were honored in the pregame, and the good feelings from that ceremony continued through the first half as strong shooting and able defending from Biola had the huge Chase Gymnasium crowd buzzing.
 
The Eagles and Lions both shot the ball above 50 percent in the first half, with Zook and Dakari Archer energizing the squad with four important three-point makes that kept the game from getting out of control early on.
 
The Lions got out to an 8-0 lead straight away and led by as much as nine points in the first half, but the Eagles were able to close that gap, tie the game and then keep the margin to just three at the half thanks primarily to the performance from the field from Archer and Zook, who combined for all but eight of the Eagles' 33 first-half points.
 
Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist needed a big night from those two, as his other leading scorer, Kurtz, had his hands full all night trying to deal with Zach Allmon and Keith Mason, two powerful forwards for the defending national champion Lions.
 
Allmon had a huge night, shooting 5-of-7 from the floor in the first half and 3-of-3 in the second to lead Vanguard's scorers with 18 points.  He added 12 boards to get the only double-double of the night.
 
The Lions pulled away in the second half of this one, outscoring the Eagles 30-21 based primarily in inside scoring. Vanguard had to depend on its inside shooters as its guards were putting up brick after brick from deep, almost building a Chicago brownstone with their 18 percent shooting performance.
 
However, the Lions outscored Biola 40-12 in the paint in a dominating display of strength. VUSC also owned the rebound battle, 33-30, although it seemed like much more of a difference since the Lions added 10 offensive boards and 14 second-chance points.
 
Zook and Archer both ended with 21 points, but it was not enough to overcome the lack of depth that once again sunk a solid start as no other Eagle scored more than six points.
 
Biola falls to 16-12 (4-10 GSAC) and Vanguard gets itself back to above .500 in conference play at 16-12 (8-7 GSAC).
 
Biola has played its last game inside Chase Gymnasium for this season as it hits the road for its final week of regular season play at The Master's College on Tuesday and No. 25 Westmont on Saturday.