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Michael Bagatourian makes a dunk
George Rodriguez
50
Notre Dame de Namur NDNU-MBB 0-7, 0-1 PacWest
59
Winner Biola BU-MBB 5-2, 1-0 PacWest
Notre Dame de Namur NDNU-MBB
0-7, 0-1 PacWest
50
Final
59
Biola BU-MBB
5-2, 1-0 PacWest
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Notre Dame de Namur NDNU-MBB 26 24 50
Biola BU-MBB 22 37 59

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Dunks, Takeaways Highlight PacWest Win

Biola puts a bad first half behind it and gets a win over NDNU.




LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Last year it took Biola 11 chances to notch its first PacWest Conference victory. This year, the Eagles got that sweet taste in their very first try, beating Notre Dame de Namur 59-50 on Thursday night.

It was a bit of a bittersweet taste because the game was definitely not Biola's best brand of basketball. The team started the game shooting 2-of-15 from the floor and only managed 22 points in the first half, going into the break trailing the 0-6 Argos 26-22.

A minor adjustment to the offensive approach, spreading the ball out more and letting the guards work on penetrating the lane rather than relying on the big guys to do all the work, allowed the Eagles' offense to flow a bit more freely in the second half to help BU outscore NDNU 37-24 and do enough to get a win.

"A home game. A conference season-opener. This was a game we really needed to win," said Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist. "I was just happy that in the second half we got better. There were things we did well and things we definitely need to work on."

Biola upped its shooting percentage from 30 percent to 48 percent in the second half, taking more time off the play clock to find the right high-percentage shot.

It was slow going at first in the second half, with Notre Dame de Namur maintaining a six-point lead as late as two minutes in. Then a 12-to-2 run from Biola changed the entire momentum of the game as the Eagles' racked up makes and NDNU racked up turnovers.

"The biggest thing for us tonight was that we only had nine turnovers compared to their 17. That disparity of eight possessions helped," said Holmquist.

Eleven of the Argos' 17 turnovers came in the second half, perhaps none bigger than a strip steal by Levi Auble at half-court that turned into an earth-shaking fastbreak dunk for the senior forward on the other end.

That dunk made it a 33-33 game. Biola would take a 35-33 lead on a Michael Bagatourian layup two possessions later and never looked back, never trailing and leading by as many as 12 points down the stretch.

"Our energy changed (in the second half). Our coach told us we were playing kind of quiet, and weren't playing as aggressive as we should be," said Bagatourian. "We came out, decided it was time to turn it on. We started communicating and playing together and it all worked out."

It was definitely a choppy game, and one that was not always pretty to watch, with a combined 43 fouls and 59 missed buckets. Neither team shot 40 percent for the game, but at the end of the day all that matters is the score and Biola had the lead there.

Trevor Treinen and Alex Talma combined for the team-lead with 14 points each. Talma added 12 rebounds to help BU outrebound NDNU by four. It was Talma's first double-double in his last four appearances, but his fourth of the season overall.

Bagatourian had 13 to join the other returning starters in double-digits. He played a key role throughout the night in keeping Biola focused and playing turnover-free basketball. He shot 5-of-7 and made both his free throws, while also bringing down four rebounds and adding an assist. For the third time this season he had no turnovers in the game.

"We need to come out and practice well tomorrow," said Bagatourian. "If we come out and have a bad practice, like we're big dogs, then we will come out flat again on Saturday."

Auble's second-half dunk was his only scoring on the night. But it was perhaps the most important points of the night in how it changed the whole mood of the team and lit a spark under the Eagles.

Biola improves to 5-2 (1-0 PacWest) and will face Holy Names (1-5, 0-1 PacWest) at home on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
 
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