LA MIRADA, Calif. --- In a game that was tense for the majority of the second half Biola held on with clutch free throws down the stretch to defeated Point Loma Nazarene University, 77-73.

The win brings Biola back to .500 at 12-12 and 9-9 in conference. But it also completes Biola's sweep of its two meetings with the Sea Lions after the Eagles came out on top of another close game by a score of 61-59 on Jan. 11.

Amusingly enough, Head Coach Alan Nakamura's team went 4-0 this season against PacWest teams who use green as a primary color because the Eagles also beat Concordia twice. But that's a significant accomplishment since CUI and the Sea Lions are both positioning for a spot in the PacWest tournament during the first week of March.

"When we are focused we can compete with anyone," said Nakamura. "It was exciting to see us compete so well for 40 minutes against a very good Point Loma team that was on a five-game winning streak. Everyone took ownership of this game, and it was great to see contributions from everyone."

Thursday's game was neck-and-neck from start to finish. DeMoria White's nine points in the first quarter helped Biola take a 16-10 lead into the between-quarter break. But then Point Loma got back in the game and kept itself within one point of the Eagles, 39 to Biola's 40, over the next two quarters.

Biola won the game by keeping pace with the Sea Lions during the final straight-away when PLNU scored a game-high 24 points in the final period. The Eagles responded by making nine of their 10 free throw attempts over the final 10 minutes and 21 total points to hold on for the four point victory.

"We knew Point Loma was going to make a run at us in the end," said Nakamura.  "But by moving the ball at the end we got a good look, and Jessica Shill hit a big shot for us. Then we did a pretty good job taking care of the ball and made our free throws."

Shill and White were really the leading ladies of the fourth quarter for Biola, combining for eighteen points and a perfect free throw percentage. After starting the quarter with just two points, Shill started the fourth with a layup and scored seven more the rest of the way to set a new career-high with 11 points.

She also hit a clutch three pointer with exactly 60 seconds left to put Biola up 71-65 and force Point Loma to intentionally foul for the rest of the game.

"This game was really big for us," sais Shill. "We seem to come out with more fire and energy in these types of games and I just hope we can keep this up through the end of the season."

White also made her share of big shots, particularly with 26 seconds left when she took two points at the charity stripe to put the Eagles up five. White was so automatic from the beginning to the end of the game, with 15 points in the first half and 20 in the second,  it became difficult to notice how special her night ended up being. DeMoria White  reached 30 points for only the second time this season and set a new career-high with 35 points in the win.

Biola will have one day's preparation before its next PacWest game on Saturday. The Eagles take on the Chaminade Silverswords at 5:30 p.m.