LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- The first look at the 2019-20 Biola Men's Basketball team was certainly full of intrigue on Friday night against CSU San Marcos. There were flashes of absolute brilliance, and also some stretches that left BU fans wanting a whole lot more.

The short story is that two players from CSU San Marcos took over the game in the second half and overtime, helping CSUSM come from down 69-55 with just over seven minutes left to tie the game with a buzzer-beater and force overtime. Biola scored the first two points of the overtime period, but then CSUSM ended the game on a 13-0 run to win the game 86-75.

It was a sour finish to what was a fantastic effort for this new-look Eagles team for over 30 minutes. CSU San Marcos had 57 of its 86 points come from two players, Khalil Fuller (31) and Alex Gil-Fernandez (26).

On the night, CSUSM scored 46 of their points in the paint, mostly thanks to the big bruiser Fuller. The big man also led the Cougars in scoring the last time these two teams met, to open the season last year. It was a bit different that day, though, as he had 14 points and Biola won the game 64-58.

It was not one of the two big scorers that put the dagger through the heart of the Eagles to complete the CSUSM comeback and force overtime. Instead, it was the third-leading scorer Bryce Sloan, who had eight points in the game. Fuller, who had a game-high 12 rebounds, is the one who pulled down a critical offensive board and fed the ball to Sloan for the shot which completed the Cougars' 16-2 run to end regulation and force OT.

CSUSM out-rebounded Biola 37-30 in the game. The Eagles' leading rebounder had eight (Solomon Ruddell).

So, it's a disappointing start for a BU team that really jumped out the gates in the early going of this game. Really, going ice cold from beyond the three-point line is what made all the difference for BU. 

Marquise Mosley led all scorers for the Eagles, going 8-for-18 overall and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to equal 22 total points. He also played all 45 minutes for the Eagles. Mosley, Alex Wright (41) and Michael Bagatourian (40) all put in more than regulation minutes in the season-opener.

Bagatourian had 18 and Solomon Ruddell 15 to be scorers number two and three for BU. Ruddell was impressive in his Biola debut, going 5-for-7 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the line while adding the eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Wright did a bit of everything for the Eagles but struggled from the field. He shot just 2-of-9 and tallied only five points. He did, however, lead the team with six assists, committed zero turnovers, pulled down seven boards and added two steals.

So, the pieces are clearly there for this Eagles team, which also saw good minutes from Jesse Elrod before he got into foul trouble. The big man made a pair of threes in the first half to help Biola outscore the competition 41-32 in the first 20 minutes.

Biola shot 46 percent for the game, which is respectable, but the 2-for-13 mark from beyond the three-point arc after halftime is what really sunk them. One of those misses was on BU's final possession of regulation, which gave the ball back to CSU San Marcos with 12 ticks on the clock and allowed the eventual game-tying bucket.

Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist's team will take the lessons from the opener and get a chance to apply them right away, facing off against the hosts, CSU Los Angeles, at 7 p.m. Saturday. CSULA fell to the PacWest favorites, Concordia Irvine, on Friday night by a score of 90-76.