LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It's rivalry week on campus for Biola Basketball. The Eagles have just one game this week, but it's definitely the biggest game of the year thus far for Dr. Dave Holmquist's program as they host Azusa Pacific on Saturday night.

LAST WEEK: Point Loma def. Biola, 82-54; Concordia Irvine def. Biola, 84-78 (0-2 weekly record, 6-4 overall record, 2-2 PacWest)

THIS WEEK: vs Azusa Pacific (5-6, 2-2 PacWest) - Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

MULTIMEDIA: Live video and live stats will be provided free of charge for all Biola home contests.

TICKETS: Biola home events are always free to Biola students, staff, faculty and alumni. Children 12 and under are also always free. General admission is $6 and discounted tickets for opposing school students, guests under 18 and seniors are $4. This week's game has some special circumstances for ticketing, see this ticketing link.

BIOLA (6-4, 2-2 PacWest) at AZUSA PACIFIC (5-6, 2-2 PacWest): Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video \\ LAST MEETING: Biola wins 73-70
Anyone in attendance at last year's Biola vs. Azusa Pacific game in Chase Gymnasium witnessed a game they will likely never forget. The drama was real for the entire 40 minutes, hitting its peak with Blake Shannon, Jr.'s game-winning shot and Trevor Treinen's game-sealing steal in the final few seconds of play. Biola earned a 73-70 win over an Azusa Pacific team that made the conference and regional tournament last season. It was exactly as we would've drawn it up when imagining the great renewing of the rivalry out here in La Mirada. Now, we get to do it all over again. This year, the matchup comes considerably earlier in the season, making it more difficult to know exactly what to expect. Both teams have a pair of conference wins and a pair of conference losses against the same set of PacWest foes. Biola and APU both beat Holy Names and NDNU and then suffered losses last week to Point Loma and Concordia Irvine. APU had the high of a 49-point win over Notre Dame de Namur, but also had a lopsided letdown against CUI, 74-54. Biola has had three close games, including a near-comeback against CUI last week, but also suffered a big loss to Point Loma due to a hot-shooting second half from the Sea Lions. So, we'll see what we get when the two sides trot onto the floor with a whole lot of expectations and pressure on Saturday night. The Cougars' top-4 scorers are all returning from last year's team, with Biola killer Mandrell Worthy leading the way averaging 16.7 points-per-game. Worthy was just the third-leading scorer on last year's squad, but he managed 20+ points in both games against Biola. Worthy has not played since conference play began, with his last game being Nov. 21 against CSU San Marcos. APU has eight players who've started at least two games this season and has nine players with 13 minutes or more on average. Biola, in contrast, has had the same five starters in all 10 games and has just seven players hitting double digits in minutes. Look for Biola to lean on the leadership of Trevor Treinen at Alex Talma in this game, as both players had over 36 minutes on the floor in last year's home win, including Treinen's integral role of stealing the APU inbound pass in the final three seconds to ice the game. Look for Holmquist to keep with his tendency to play a small rotation on Saturday night, as he only played eight players in last year's contest. Just like last year's team, this Azusa Pacific squad really likes to throw up the three-ball. They've attempted 330 three-point shots so far this season, which is the most in the PacWest by a considerable margin. Only three conference schools even have more than 200 attempts. Biola's best effort to shut that down will be forcing them to take the least-favorable three-point shot possible. The Cougars were 11-for-27 (.407) from deep against Biola last season, led by Worthy's 4-of-7 effort.

PROMOTIONS: There's a lot going on surrounding the rivalry games on Saturday night. Perhaps the biggest items are the free In-n-Out and free "Beat Azusa" T-shirts. Biola SGA has sponsored free In-n-Out cheeseburgers (or grilled cheese) for the first 800 people to line up once the In-n-Out catering truck arrives on campus at 6:30 p.m. Also, inside of the gym lobby we will be giving out over 1,000 RED Beat Azusa T-shirts for fans to wear, wave or take home with them. In addition, we'll have some halftime giveaways, a live DJ, Biola Spirit performances and some smooth jams from the Biola Pep Band. Get there early to grab your seat as the gym will begin filling up with the women's game at 5:30 p.m.

REBOUNDING MACHINE: Alex Talma continues to put up gaudy numbers on the boards. He leads the conference with 9.9 rebounds-per-game and has helped BU position itself as the second-best rebounding team in the conference too at 39.2 rebounds-per-game. Talma has had double-digit rebounds in three of his last four times out, including a 15pt/11rb double-double in a narrow loss at Concordia Irvine last week. Last year he averaged 7.0 points-per-game and 6.5 rebounds-per-game against this week's two opponents. His scoring was hampered by him shooting just .333 from the floor in those four games. Look for both numbers to improve this year as he's more of the focal point of this team, both on the boards and in the offensive end. He played 25 minutes in the first game of last season's series vs. APU, ending with 11 points and just three rebounds as he dealt with foul trouble. However, he was one of the driving forces in the Eagles' ability to win at home, recording 19 points, 10 rebounds in a 36-minute, two-foul effort. If he can steer clear of fouls this weekend that'd be a big positive sign for BU's chances.

YEAR 39: Dr. Dave Holmquist just keeps humming along. He's in his 39th season coaching his alma mater and is holding steady in fifth place in the all-time wins list among four-year college men's basketball coaches. Holmquist's 964 wins are third-most among active college coaches, only falling behind Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (1,100) and Herb Magee of NCAA Division II Jefferson University (1,074). Holmquist has averaged 22.8 wins-per-season, including his three years at Fresno Pacific when he first got started in the mid-1970s. If he can get 22 wins this year, he'd set himself up well for a run at win 1,000 in YEAR 40.

MR. 1,000: Trevor Treinen eclipsed 1,000 career points in his last game last season. The four-year senior comes is up to 1,134 points after a productive preseason. He 334 points-per-season over his last three years, with a career-best 442 points last year. If he can get around 375 this season, he could move into the top-10 all-time among Biola Men's Basketball players. He's currently on pace for around 370 points this season. The current No. 10 is Bryan Weakley (1998-02) at 1,322. The highest spot he could likely reach would be seventh. He'd need 417 points to pass Roger Poppen (1960-63) for that spot. Treinen is also near the top of the Biola record books in three-pointers made. He comes into this season with 148 through his first three seasons, eighth all-time. He's within 50 of passing Marcus White, Dakari Archer, Nate Rakestraw, Pierre Zook and Doug Newby to move into third all-time behind Weakley (236) and Danny Campbell (203).

NEXT WEEK: None. Merry Christmas! Next game: vs. Point Loma - Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m.