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Talma shoot
70
Azusa Pacific APU-MBB 15-8, 11-4 PWC
73
Winner Biola BU-MBB 9-13, 3-11 PWC
Azusa Pacific APU-MBB
15-8, 11-4 PWC
70
Final
73
Biola BU-MBB
9-13, 3-11 PWC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Azusa Pacific APU-MBB 28 42 70
Biola BU-MBB 36 37 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Down Go Cougars

Biola gets a game-winner from Blake Shannon, Jr. to beat APU, 73-70.




LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Blake Shannon, Jr. has always been at his best in the biggest moments. Whether its in the GSAC Tournament his sophomore year when he helped lift the Eagles to a title or Saturday night in La Mirada in front of a sellout crowd as he carried his team to a 73-70 win over rival Azusa Pacific.

The senior point guard hit the game-winning three-point shot with just :04.2 left on the clock before his two-guard Trevor Treinen stole the APU inbound pass to ice the game and help the Eagles knock of the PacWest Conference's second-place team.

"We were just trying to get a good shot off. We wanted to run the clock down late and go for it," said Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist. "We set a ball screen for him and he could do whatever he felt was best. He shot it and it went in. It was a difficult shot that he was defended well on and made it."

That moment was the icing on the cake that was filled with delicious moments throughout. The Eagles and Cougars absolutely left it all out on the floor to give this crowd full of alumni, faculty, staff and students from both schools a game they likely won't forget for many, many years.

"I think this is one of the best feelings I've ever felt," said Shannon. "It's pretty special. They set the screen, I got an open look and that's all she wrote."

Biola's largest lead of the game was 12, Azusa Pacific never held a lead of more than two, but the score really was within four to six points for almost the entire 40 minutes. The Eagles had four players play 31 minutes or more and Treinen, Shannon and Alex Talma each put in 36 or more minutes of work.

The Eagles had to depend on that core group of guys with injuries making such a big impact on the roster this year. Tonight, they stepped up. There were times when it felt that Talma in particular was jumping a foot higher and absorbing more contact than everyone on the floor as he carried the team on his back.

The junior forward from New Zealand ended his season 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting and was the only player in the game to record a double-double as he hauled in 10 rebounds. Four of his 10 boards were on the offensive end. The Eagles did a great job cleaning up their offensive glass with 16 such rebounds on the evening, resulting in 17 second-chance points.

"In the first half Alex really gave us momentum," said Holmquist. "I thought he played really, really well. It was a great team win but he and Blake especially led the way."

As a whole BU managed to bring in 40 rebounds compared to APU's 27. That's a 33-rebound swing from when APU outrebounded the boys 52-32 in Azusa last month.

The game itself felt like Biola's to win from the outset as shots that haven't been falling all year long seemed to be falling and more breaks were falling in favor of the Eagles. However, Azusa Pacific rode some good second-half mojo to bring themselves all the way back into the game and claim a lead at 70-69 with just under two minutes on the game clock.

The Holmquist defense dug in after that three-pointer and forced two turnovers to keep APU from even attempting another field goal in that final two minutes.

After a Treinen free throw knotted the game at 70 and Talma came up with a steal it was time for Shannon to shine. The Eagles had the ball with 34 seconds left on the clock and let it wind all the way down before the senior let the shot fly right over the outstretched hands of APU's Petar Kutlesic who already had two blocks on the night.

No block this time as the ball found nothing but net and etched Shannon's name into the Biola lore right next to that of Bryan Weakley who hit a game-winning three to spoil the opening of Azusa's Felix Event Center over a decade ago.

Shannon ended the night with a team-high 21 points and every single one of them came on a three-pointer. He was 7-of-12 from distance. Christian Carroll also managed 13 points, which is his season-best for conference competition. He stepped up in a big way when the team needed someone and shot well, defended well and made an impact off the bench.

The win means so much more to this school and these fans than just pushing Biola up to 9-13 and giving it a third PacWest Conference win. It's a culture-changing win that solidifies the campus's journey to establishing itself as a model NCAA Division II institution for many years to come.

"I hadn't forgotten what the atmosphere was like, but it had been a few years and it was really, really nice to have that kind of atmosphere again," said Holmquist. "This makes up for a lot of the difficulty of this year. This will be a memorable game."

Be a part of that future by coming out to Chase Gymnasium again on Monday night in support of the team as it battles Holy Names at 7:30 p.m. We've got FREE Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwiches once again if you get there early.
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