Box Score
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The great thing about this year's Biola Men's Basketball team is that it is loaded with talent enough at every position that the bench can easily steal the show on any given night.
 
On Tuesday night in front of a crowd of parents, alumni and enthusiastic fellow student-athletes the Eagles' bench players definitely did steal the show in a riveting 78-66 home win over Vanguard.
 
Caelan Tiongson and Blake Shannon, Jr. were the two members of Dr. Dave Holmquist's bench that made an especially strong impact on this night as Tiongson posted 21 points and Shannon added 16 of his own in a blistering 6-of-6 shooting effort.
 
"It's always tough to play Vanguard because they play such good defense," said Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist. "But our bench really made the difference tonight. Blake and Caelan were particularly effective and really helped us to come from behind and win the game."
 
Not too be overlooked was the usually steady production by the Eagles' leading scorer, Terrell Funches. Funches did pretty much whatever he wanted around the rim all night long as he piled on 23 points and drew a bunch of fouls from Vanguard's big men.
 
The game itself was a typical bitter Golden State Athletic Conference battle that saw players from both sides get a bit chippy in the early going before settling in for some good, old fashioned great basketball.
 
Both teams had long stretches of success that really saw them shoot the ball well and control the pace of the game. Unfortunately for the visiting team Biola was able to maintain one more of those such streaks that lasted for just about all of the final 15 minutes of the game.  
 
After a Jaamon Echols layup extended Vanguard to a 46-36 lead with 14:35 left in the game an uneasy feeling began to spread throughout Chase Gymnasium as the No. 10 Eagles looked pretty well beaten against the ropes.
 
A 9-point run from Biola changed that real quickly as an exciting steal to fastbreak layup play from Trevor Treinen brought the Eagles back to within one at 45-46.
 
That play forced a timeout from Vanguard's coach Rhett Soliday. Following the timeout the two teams essentially traded baskets until there was about seven minutes left in the second half and the Eagles stared at a 58-59 deficit.
 
Over the next five minutes Biola would score 12 of the next 14 points to open up a 9-point lead with not enough time left on the clock for Vanguard to mount anything against the toughened up Biola defense. Shannon scored eight of the 12 points on the run, including two of his four three-point makes.
 
Biola shot 57 percent in the second half and went 5-of-6 from distance after not making a single three-point shot in the first half. The biggest difference between the two periods was the swing in turnovers into Biola's favor and Vanguard's cold shooting in the second half.
 
Jeff Gonzalez and Ryan Swain were key contributors to Biola's ability to control the glass throughout the night. Gonzalez finished with a team-high nine rebounds and eight points. Swain finished with six rebounds and a bucket.
 
Biola improves to 19-2 (6-1 GSAC) with the victory and continues its strong start to the Golden State Athletic Conference season. The Lions fall to 12-5 (1-4 GSAC) in a start that's been less than satisfactory.
 
The toughest test for this Biola Men's Basketball team comes this Saturday night as the Eagles take on No. 7 Hope International (16-3, 5-1 GSAC) at 7:30 p.m.