Box Score
COSTA MESA, Calif. --- Golden State Athletic Conference legend holds that Vanguard's "The PIT" is the toughest place to play in all of the conference. No. 10 Biola Men's Basketball threw that out the door with a stunning come-from-behind 70-69 victory over the Lions on Saturday night.
 
The Eagles erased an 18-point second half deficit with thrilling drives to the basket, clutch free throw shooting and a complete turnaround on defense to leave the confident Vanguard side stunned in front of their home crowd.
 
The win gives Biola its first 2-0 season against Vanguard since 2011-12. Could it be a coincidence that the 2011-12 season is also the last time that Dr. Dave Holmquist's squad reached the NAIA National Tournament? We'll find out about that piece in about a month.
 
For now let's focus on the thrilling, jaw-dropping, remarkable game of basketball that just propelled this Eagles team to 22-3 and a 0.5 game lead in the GSAC standings. 
 
The first half was dominated by the Vanguard defense as Biola's athletic backcourt had little-to-no luck getting close to the basket and converting against a Vanguard defense that holds its own as a top-30 team in the NAIA in points against.
 
It was 14-15 midway through the period, but some fantastic inside scoring from the Lions' Zach Allmon carried the Lions to the finish of the first 20 minutes with the strong advantage at 38-27. Allmon had 15 points in the first half as he seemingly could not miss going 6-of-7.
 
Half number two was where all of the excitement came in. After an uncomfortable first two minutes and change saw Vanguard open up its largest lead of the game at 47-29 some strong rebounding, clutch free throws and big, physical plays around the glass helped Biola begin to chink the armor of the Lions.
 
The 18-point lead would hold until the 16 minute mark as a pair of Vanguard free throws made it 49-31. Right after that Biola's defense hunkered down and played with more discipline. During the next eight minutes Vanguard would only get the chance to shoot one more free throw as BU kept clear of foul trouble.
 
Coincidentally, during that same stretch of time the Eagles exploded with a 26-7 run to grab their first lead since the fourth minute. Dakari Archer was absolutely irreplaceable during that stretch. He scored one-third of the team's points during the run despite spending two of those minutes catching his breath on the bench.
 
He was able to take a breather because of the continued strong play from the Biola bench. This effort was spearheaded by Caelan Tiongson, who proved to everyone watching tonight that he has made it his mission to make an impact on the layout of the GSAC this season.
 
Tiongson ended the night with 14 points, a block and three assists. He did a majority of his damage at the free throw line as the Vanguard defenders could not contain him without putting their hands all over him. The senior went 10-of-11 from the stripe to account for more than two-thirds of his points. He accounted for eight of the Eagles' points during the comeback run.
 
So the stage was set for an epic showdown over the final eight minutes and these two teams did not disappoint. Biola held a lead between 1-4 points from 8:08 until :32. In the third-to-last possession a made free throw by Allmon gave the Lions the late lead and had Eagles fans sweating.
 
However, with Archer and Tiongson making all the noise throughout the night Holmquist drew up a play to find the always dependable Terrell Funches in the next possession. The senior hit a mid-range floater to put Biola back on top by one with less than eight seconds to play.
 
Then, a little good, old-fashioned pressure defense did the trick as Biola walked away with a tenacious one-point victory thanks to a dramatic block by Jeff Gonzalez.
 
Biola shot nearly 60 percent in the second half to erase all thoughts of an upset and take a win in the not-so-inviting Costa Mesa environment.
 
The Eagles move to 22-3 (9-2 GSAC) while a challenging season continues for Vanguard as the team falls to 15-7 (4-7 GSAC). Biola comes back to Chase Gymnasium on Tuesday as it hosts The Master's College. It is Chick-Fil-A night for the fans as Chick-Fil-A at the La Habra Marketplace will be in attendance all night with giveaways and raffle prizes.