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MBB Comeback at Hilo

#10: MBB Comeback At Hawaii Hilo

Men's Basketball erases a 20-point deficit in the second half to steal PacWest win.

June 24, 2019

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Each day for the last week of June and first Week of July we will count down Biola Athletics' top-10 moments/achievements from the 2018-19 athletic season. This Monday represents day one of this countdown and will feature the No. 10 moment of the year.

#10: Men's Basketball Comes Back At Hawaii Hilo
Recap // Box Score
Headed into the February 4 matchup at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium Hawaii Hilo Men's Basketball was riding high. The Vulcans had won two straight, including having just dismissed a postseason-bound Azusa Pacific team three days prior. Hilo also had confidence knowing they had beaten Biola in the teams' lone meeting in 2017-18, and it was not what you'd call close (80-55). It was also Biola's third game in five nights during the whirlwind three-team Hawaiian road trip.

It seemed as if all those factors were working in the Vulcans' favor as UHH clawed out to a 48-29 halftime lead and had Biola on its heels. The Eagles were higher in the PacWest standings at that point in the season, but they certainly weren't looking the better team in the first 20 minutes, making just 11 shots from the field and surrendering nine first-half three-point makes to the Vulcans.
 
But - whatever Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist and the team leaders said in the halftime team room flipped a switch and created the opportunity for the team to put up one of the most memorable efforts of the year with an incredible 50-point performance in the second half.

Biola outscored Hawaii Hilo 50-29 over the final 20 minutes of play, taking the lead with 3:51 left on the clock and holding on for a 79-77 victory. The comeback was slow and methodical as Biola still trailed by double digits as deep as eight minutes and 10 seconds into the second half. The biggest spur to the Eagles' ability to come back was a 13-3 run from the 11:50 mark to the 7:12 mark in that second half.
 
The Eagles shot 58 percent in the second half, with the biggest difference-maker being Levi Auble going 8-of-11 and pouring in 17 points to open up every other shot of the floor. He'd have a team-leading 23 for the game and led a trio of three Eagles (Michael Bagatourian, Alex Wright) who'd score double-digits in the second half alone.
 
Aside from the scoring uptick, the Eagles showed tremendous discipline in the second half on both ends of the floor. BU turned the ball over just five times and committed just six personal fouls in the second half.
 
One of those turnovers and one of those fouls came at the scariest part of the game for Biola, though. The Eagles had the ball and a 79-77 lead with just 20 seconds left to play. UHH pressured BU on the inbounds pass, forcing the inbounder to attempt a full-court football pass to Bagatourian who was streaking alone just past the timeline. The ball sailed long, Bags couldn't save it and instead Hawaii Hilo got the ball back with a chance to win the game and about 12 seconds left.

On their inbounds play, Biola committed a foul trying to poke a ball loose. Fortunately for BU, because of its discipline, the Vulcans were not in the bonus yet and had to inbound the ball with even less time to find a good shot.

At the end, Hilo's shot bounced wide and time expired with Biola securely in hold of perhaps its grittiest win of the season. It certainly induced the most electrifying fist pump of the season from Coach Holmquist.
 

Honorable Mention: Connor Kostecka's Bat Produces Two Walk-Off Hits
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Sophomore shortstop Connor Kostecka had an excellent second season for Biola Baseball, which ended with him earning his first All-PacWest honors and hitting over .300 while combining to produce 50+ runs for the Eagles' offense.

Two of the runs he produced were walk-off winners and land him an honorable mention spot on this year's top moments countdown.

His first walk-off hit came in the series finale against Fresno Pacific in early April. The Sunbirds had won two of the first three games in the series and were looking to clinch a series victory in a close, low-scoring game four.

Kostecka had not been having his best series to that point, posting two 0-fers and only scoring one run in the first three games. He was off to a solid enough start to the finale, though, going one for his first three with a double in the seventh inning. 

He came up with one out and one on in a 2-2 game in the bottom of the ninth (which was extra-innings in the series' scheduled seven-inning game). He was facing a FPU reliever who had given up three runs in a two-inning relief appearance earlier in the series.

Kostecka took a whack at the first pitch he saw and sent it soaring over the right-field fence for his second homerun of the season and Biola's eighth PacWest win of the season.
 
His second walk-off came in a game that was altogether different with 17 combined runs scored in a end-of-season slugfest between Biola and Hawaii Hilo.

Hilo scored five total runs over the sixth, seventh and eighth to send the game into the ninth with UHH leading 8-7. The finish to the game was quite incredible as the first two batters Biola sent to the plate in the ninth inning went down on strikes before the comeback commenced.

A Tyler Piston walk and Joey Magro single began the rally and set up Kostecka to be the hero once again. Kostecka watched a ball and then watched two strikes and fouled off to balls to push the game to its tipping point with a 1-2 count. 

Kostecka found the gap in left-center to drive in both runners and win the game for Biola. The comeback came against one of the region's best closers, John Kea. The Eagles ended up winning three of four in the series to finish the year 10 games over .500.  
 
Check back with us tomorrow for the next of our top-10 moments and another honorable mention.

Top-10 Moments:
10. Men's Basketball Comes Back At Hawaii Hilo
9. Tuesday, June 25
8. Wednesday, June 26
7. Thursday, June 27
6. Friday, June 28
5. Monday, July 1
4. Tuesday, July 2
3. Wednesday, July 3
2. Thursday, July 4
1. Friday, July 5

Honorable Mentions:
Connor Kostecka's Bat Produces Two Walk-Off Hits
 
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