Box Score FULLERTON, Calif. --- Biola Men's Basketball did what it could not do in 2015-16, as it clinched a 9-0 start to the season on Friday night at the Hope International Classic with a 78-61 victory over Southern Oregon.
 
The hot-shooting Eagles trailed a hot-shooting Raiders team 22-21 just over 10 minutes into the game, but then both teams slowed scoring down a ton over the next five minutes as they combined for just 11 points in five minutes.
 
Then, at the 3:46 mark a Ryan Swain three-point shot started the Eagles on a strong run to end the half. Including his three, Biola outscored the Raiders 12-2 over the remaining few minutes to enter the break with a 41-32 lead.
 
Biola shot 56 percent from the floor in the first half, led by a 4-of-6 shooting effort and 10 points from Dakari Archer. Jeff Gonzalez and Alex Talma also had high-scoring periods as they both ended with nine points. Gonzalez was 4-of-5 from the field, which gave him the best shooting percentage on the floor through 20 minutes.
 
The game would not have been as close as it was if not for the hot shooting from SOU from beyond the arc in the first half. The Raiders hit five threes, which accounted for almost half of their total points.
 
Biola outscored the Raiders by eight in the second half to extend its lead as the game wound down. Again it was three-point makes that kept SOU close. They made five more threes but shot just 35 percent from the floor.
 
Archer's touch from the floor was not as strong in the second half, but he made all of his eight free throw attempts to help him score 10 points again to push him to 20 for the game. His 20 points led all players.
 
Gonzalez was second with 18 total points and had the second-best scoring efficiency of any Biola player this season with his 8-of-9 effort.
 
Biola improved to 9-0 with the win. Southern Oregon dropped to 6-3. The Eagles are back in action at the Hope International Classic tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. against Shepherd University.