LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The Eagles put forth a valiant effort from start to finish on Saturday, holding a respectable lead for most of the game against the team that was on top of the PacWest conference standings. But the Hawai'i Pacific Sharks limited Biola to just three made field goals in the final quarter to complete a second half comeback and win, 69-61.

After losing 83-60 in Honolulu to HPU back in November, the Eagles led for over 26-minutes straight from the early moments in the first quarter to the waning seconds of the third and nearly handed the Sharks their second loss of conference play. HPU's successful offensive possessions in the last three minutes pushes the team, atop the PacWest to a 9-1 record in conference and an overall mark of 15-2.

The Eagles are still 6-2 since Christmas, even in spite of the loss, and now sit at 4-6 in the PacWest.

"It is exciting to see how we are competing every night against every team. Hawaii Pacific is in 1st place for good reason, and with the way played this game could have gone either way," said Head Coach Alan Nakamura. "We have been very good at closing out close games, but unfortunately tonight they made a few more plays than we did in the end."

Biola raced ahead of the Sharks a few times through the first three quarters and built their lead as high as 11-points at the 5:44 point in the second quarter. DeMoria White started the game out with a statement first quarter, draining all four of her shooting attempts to collect 12 points.

But the thing that kept the Sharks in close to the home team and eventually won them the game was their ability to close out each period by chipping into Biola's lead. The Eagles were only able to muster a five-point lead at halftime and and a one-point margin at the end of the third quarter. But they deserve all the credit due them for making the top team in the conference play catch up for 35-plus minutes.

"We came out with good energy, confidence, and commitment to our philosophies," said Nakamura. "Mori did an excellent job getting us organized. [Freshman] Jazz Benn showed maturity in a high level game. And Mikayla Greens led us on the boards."

White eventually finished with 24 points on the night followed by Benn with 13. Greens grabbed more than 10 rebounds for the second game in row on Saturday with 11.

Substitute Samantha Lambrigsten stepped in as the engine of the HPU offense in the second half. Lambrigsten scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the second half and led the team with a final total of 21.

Biola will look to build on this valiant effort by closing out three wins next week during its trip to Northern California. Biola faces its first PacWest opponent on Thursday, Jan. 25 when it travels to Oakland to play Holy Names. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

"We are looking forward to taking what we learned and competing well in the Bay Area for three important games next week," said Nakamura. "This team loves to travel together and we have played well on the road."