Eric Alcantara - HPU Athletics

Box Score

Biola BIO 8-4,4-2 PacWest

Hawaii Pacific HPU 4-7,2-3 PacWest

Biola BIO

8-4,4-2 PacWest

Final

Jan. 02, 2020

Hawaii Pacific HPU

4-7,2-3 PacWest

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Biola BIO	25	43	68
Hawaii Pacific HPU	37	36	73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | January 02, 2020

Cold Start Dampens Hawaiian Opener

Biola follows slow start with perhaps best its finish, but suffers loss at HPU.

Next Game:

at Chaminade

1/4/2020 | 5 p.m. PT

Next Game

Full Schedule

Jan. 04 (Sat) / 5 p.m. PT

at Chaminade

History

Recap
Roster

HONOLULU, Hawaii --- For 33 or so of the 40 minutes on Thursday night Biola Men's Basketball looked completely out of sync at Hawaii Pacific's new "The Shark Tank" home gymnasium. Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist's team had its absolute worst start to a game this season, but then finished off with what was perhaps its best final few minutes to showcase its skill.

Unfortunately for BU, the early hot three-point shooting by the hosts was enough so Biola could never fully recover in a 73-68 road loss to HPU. Throughout the night the Eagles had a hard time moving the ball with their typical precision, suffered from a bunch of uncharacteristic unforced giveaways and shot under 20 percent for nearly all of the first half.

Despite all the struggles, the team still had a very real chance to win the game at several points in the second half thanks to a more resilient defense and a remarkable display on the offensive end by Marquise Mosley and Michael Bagatourian. Over the final two minutes, the Eagles showed why even in a loss they're a team that needs to be feared within the PacWest Conference.

Biola outscored HPU 43-36 in the second half, with a lot of the outcome hinging on HPU's ability to make its free throws. Hawaii Pacific made 10 of its 19 second-half free throws, with three of those nine misses coming in succession inside of the final minute, opening a door for BU.

The game seemed all but over as HPU's Neema Namdar hit his fifth made three-pointer of the night to make it 64-54 Hawaii Pacific with just 1:38 left on the clock.

Biola struggled to score consistently throughout the night, which made that 10-point advantage feel more like a 20-point lead, but things went Biola's way a lot over the final 98 seconds.

The Eagles shot 6-for-9 over the final minute-plus, including two made three-pointers on three shots from deep. That doubled the number of made threes the Eagles accumulated during the entire first 38+ minutes.

Unfortunately, it proved to be too little, too late for the Eagles as HPU did just enough at the free-throw line to preserve its lead and seal the PacWest upset.

Biola shot just 23 percent (7-for-30) in the first half and was out-rebounded by eight to put the team behind the eight ball in a big way. But, the team shot 50 percent in the second stanza and even flipped the script on the rebounding totals (23-17) to make the game close at the end.

Mosley finished the game with a season-high 29 points, including nine in the final minute and five seconds, to do all he could to push his team to victory. Michael Bagatourian was second in scoring for the Eagles, piling on 20 to set a new season-high for himself. Fourteen of those 20 points came in the final 13 minutes of the second half, which is really when Biola began to pick up some momentum.

Biola trailed by right around 10 for much of the game until an eight-point run between the 10-minute mark and 7-minute mark in the second half allowed BU to get within two at 49-47. Mosley accounted for five of those eight points, too, putting in his best work during Biola's best stretches.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the game ballooned back out to a 10-point lead by the time we hit that 1:38 mark because of a 13-5 run by HPU where the Sharks we very attentive to using every bit of shot clock on every single possession.

HPU had four players hit double-figures in their winning effort, led by a pair with 17. The two leading scorers combined for six of the team's 10 made three-point shots, which made an undeniable difference in the game. That effort was powered by four made three-pointers in a row at the very start of the game, spotting the hosts a 10-point lead immediately.

The surprise loss drops Biola to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in PacWest Conference play. Hawaii Pacific improved to 4-7 overall and 2-2 in the PacWest with the win. Biola has another big challenge on Saturday as it plays an afternoon game at Chaminade (6-4, 4-1 PacWest).

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