LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It was not always comfortable, but it was always in control as Biola led 36 minutes of its near wire-to-wire 75-67 win over Academy of Art. The Eagles returned to Chase Gymnasium after three weeks away and kept their home record a perfect 7-0 with an energized, accurate performance.
"It was nice getting back home and getting the chance to defend our home court and get back on the right track in league play," said sophomore guard
Alex Wright.
The Eagles had five players score 10 or more points and made the most of its chances at the free-throw line, which made all the difference in the game. Biola was 16-for-18 at the stripe, while ART U struggled to shoot 3-for-10, which really hampered the Urban Knights' second-half comeback effort.
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Academy of Art led 2-0 and 4-2, but then never held another lead throughout the night. The game was close, within three or four points, until just after the midway point in the first half. That's when the turnover bug really began to rear its head against the Urban Knights.Â
Biola capitalized on ART U's 13 first-half turnovers to outscore the Urban Knights 18-9 over the final 10 minutes of the first half and enter the locker room up 11 at 31-20. The biggest swing was a five-point stretch from Michael Bagatourian with just over three minutes left. The forward hit a triple to make it 25-18 and then followed up with a fastbreak layup set up by Marquise Mosley on the very next possession.
Bagatourian was one of the five Biola players to end in double-figures and led the scoring overall with 16 in the game. Mosley had assists on five of Biola's 13 first-half buckets.
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Neither team shot the ball well in the first 20 minutes, with both hovering around 37 percent. Both teams improved in a competitive second-half, shooting right at 50 percent.
The Eagles held Academy of Art way out of the game with a strong start to the second period. Biola led by as many as 17 points at 57-40 with 10 minutes left on the clock.
The Urban Knights did not give in, even at that wide margin. Instead, they turned up the heat in a big way over the final seven minutes. ART U went on a 15-4 run between 7:03 and 3:34 to get back within three points, which is their closest margin in that second half.Â
Biola went 1-for-4 from the field during that run. But what helped the Urban Knights' cause most during that run was that they made four three-pointers, going 4-for-4 from deep in those three and a half minutes. ART U made 10 threes in the game, which is double what Biola hit from distance.
Thankfully, the Eagles gathered themselves together and bounced back from that dangerous ART U run and had the game back to a comfortable margin by the :47 mark by scoring seven straight points to make it 70-61.
The Urban Knights made just three of their last seven field goal attempts and were just 1-of-5 from the line over the final three minutes.
Alex Wright (15), Jesse Elrod (13), Mosley (12) and Chris Rossow (11) were all the double-digit scorers for Biola. Each of them had at least one other area where the contributed significantly to Biola's effort in a night where the starters did just about all the heavy lifting.
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Wright chalked up eight rebounds and two assists. Elrod led the team with nine rebounds and he and Solomon Ruddell both had three blocks, Mosley finished up with six dimes and Rossow had four assists and a steal.Â
Wright's 15 points came on 4-for-7 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.Â
"I felt good about my effort tonight! I thought I brought good energy on both sides and helped my team to a good win," said Wright.
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As mentioned, Academy of Art's tendency to turn the ball over (especially in the first half), is what tilt the scales in Biola's favor tonight. The Eagles scored 18 points off of ART U's 16 turnovers. Biola limited itself to just eight turnovers, which is its second-lowest total of the season.
The win is a breath of fresh area after some surprising upsets in Hawaii. It's got Biola right back into prime position in the PacWest at 10-5 overall and 6-3 in league play. Next week is a tough one for this team, having to face both Concordia Irvine (11-4, 5-1 PacWest) and Azusa Pacific (12-3, 7-2 PacWest) on the road.
