FULLERTON, Calif. --- The 2016-17 Golden State Athletic Men's Basketball Championship is on the line tonight inside of Darling Pavilion at Hope International.
 
At 5:30 p.m., the No. 4 Biola Eagles (25-3, 11-3 GSAC) are going head-to-head with the No. 10 Hope International Royals (21-6, 10-3 GSAC) in Biola's second-to-last contest of the regular season.
 
HIU still has three games remaining, including tonight's matchup, and currently sits a half-game back from your Eagles because of the difference in total number of conference games played.
 
The two teams are tied in the loss column, which is all-important to determining the winner of the conference title. It means that if the Eagles win tonight they will guarantee at least a share of the GSAC title no matter what happens in their final regular season matchup (vs. San Diego Christian at home on Tuesday night).
 
A Biola victory would guarantee no more than four losses on the year and would put HIU, The Master's and Westmont all already at four losses to guarantee the tie.
 
The Eagles are looking to complete the season sweep against the Royals in tonight's contest to make it back-to-back seasons clinching the title with wins over Hope International. Last year the Eagles beat the Royals 65-59 inside of Chase Gym in both teams' final game of the season to break a tie and give the Eagles the title. Earlier this season Biola managed a 69-55 win at home over Hope International and held as much as an 18-point lead in a blowout.
 
Tonight should not be expected to be a blowout. First off, the Royals have the home court advantage this time and are a perfect 16-0 inside of Darling Pavilion this year. Secondly, they have the mental advantage of it being their senior night and will likely be able to draw a large crowd. Third, they are coming into play eager to bounce back from a 63-62 loss at Arizona Christian earlier this week. That loss to the last-place team in the GSAC is what gives Biola the slight edge in the race for the title and probably has all of the HIU team extremely motivated to grab a win tonight.
 
Biola has won the last three meetings between these two sides, including the one that clinched last year's regular season championship and also the Eagles' televised tournament championship win over HIU last year.
 
Dakari Archer is a big reason why the Eagles have been able to have this recent success over the Royals. In those three victories he's scored 15 points, 24 points and 15 points. Those numbers may not jump right off the page at you, but in a game between two sides that generally allow teams between 55-62 points on average any kind of individual double-digit scoring effort is impressive. He also never missed a free throw in 12 chances during those three games. Look for him to try to get to the line and cash in tonight.
 
The other major players in Biola's win earlier this season were Ryan Swain and Caelan Tiongson. Swain had an especially impressive contest as he shot a brilliant 6-of-8 and came away with 14 points and four rebounds. Tiongson scored 13 and pulled down eight.
 
The rebounds will be important this evening as Biola outrebounded HIU 36-29 in their last meeting and helped them generate a lot of extra possessions against a Royals team that always seems to shoot the basketball well.
 
The Eagles will likely key in on Liam Hunt defensively. Hunt is a talented inside scorer who is shooting 57 percent this season with over 200 field goal attempts. He leads the team in scoring at 13.3 points-per-game and is a huge reason HIU is able to score an average of 21 points-per-game more than its opponents this year. He had a double-double in 34 minutes played in the previous game against BU. He scored 13 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and was the reason for many of the Royals' 22 points in the paint.
 
You can watch tonight's important contest at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/biola/ or attend the game in person at Darling Pavilion. Hope International is just a short trip down the road in Fullerton at 2500 East Nutwood Avenue Fullerton, CA 92831.
 
Tickets will be available at the door for $5 for adults and $3 for students (with ID). The game will be followed immediately by the women's contest at 7:30 p.m. They No. 17 Eagles are expected to win that matchup handily following their 74-53 win over the Royals earlier this year.