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Scoreboard

Alex Wright blocking ball
Kyla McGuire
53
Notre Dame de Namur ND 2-18,1-12 PacWest
74
Winner Biola BIO 11-7,7-5 PacWest
Notre Dame de Namur ND
2-18,1-12 PacWest
53
Final
74
Biola BIO
11-7,7-5 PacWest
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Notre Dame de Namur ND 28 25 53
Biola BIO 36 38 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Host With The Most

Biola dominates for 37+ minutes and gets a runaway win over NDNU.

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The wins keep piling on inside of Chase Gymnasium for Biola Men's Basketball. The Eagles, who were sorely in need of a win after a tough road trip, got their eighth home win of season (8-0) by beating Notre Dame de Namur, 74-53.

"We were coming off a few tough losses, so tonight we were playing with purpose. You tend to shoot the ball better when you're doing that," said Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist. "Also, I think our defense was stronger for a greater portion of the game than it has been lately"

The Eagles got off to a strong start for the first time in well over a week. The team scored nine of the first 12 points to show right away the intentions they had for this game.

The Argonauts rallied a little bit and brought the game back even at 11-11, but right around the halfway point of the first half the Eagles began to take off again. 

Biola utilized a 16-6 run to turn an 18-15 lead into 34-21 with just over three minutes left in the half. That spurt finished off with a seven-point run powered by five from Michael Bagatourian.

Bagatourian and senior point guard Marquise Mosley were locked in all night long and, as a result, finished the game as the two leading scorers. Mosley was lights out, mostly from midrange, shooting 9-for-14 to lead all scorers with 20 points. He added seven assists, which gives him 13 total in the Eagles' last two home contests. Bagatourian was the beneficiary of four of those seven assists. He went 7-for-14 to finish with 16 points.
 
Biola led by as many as 13 in the first half, but some late scoring by NDNU tightened the gap to single digits by the break. The surge was powered primarily by one player, Stephen Baity, having a quick little run from beyond the arc.

Baity also scored the first bucket of the second half to allow the Argos to get as close as five points within the first minute of play. 

There was a bit of course correction almost immediately though as Biola went 4-for-4 on its next handful of possessions and quickly bloomed the lead to 48-33. Mixed in that stretch was the highlight of the night, a play when Bagatourian stripped the ball from his man, tossed it to Chris Rossow in transition and then received the back pass from Rossow and took off on one foot from behind the restricted area for a thunderous one-handed jam.
 
"We played with some really good energy. The guys came ready to play. At the start of the second half we really asserted ourselves," said Holmquist. "The effort was good. It was a good spirit. I felt really good about this game. When your defense is focused and intense it carries over to the offensive side."

Those two points, which came at the 18:00-minute mark in the second half, were actually Bagatourian's final points of the night. He began the second half 2-for-2 and then only made three more field goal attempts in the game's final stretch.

The Eagles led by between 14 and 21 points over the final 18 minutes of play, ending the game with their largest lead of the night at 74-53. Tyus Dennis got on the board with a nice driving layup inside the final minute to help buffer that final margin.
 
As Holmquist mentioned above, Biola's defense was very good throughout the night. The Eagles held Notre Dame de Namur to just .311 shooting (19-for-61), which is the lowest mark by any opponent this season. 

The gap between these two would've been even wider, but NDNU managed to make nine three-point shots. The 27 points from that came on just 25 percent shooting, though. 

Biola also dominated the glass from start to finish, out-rebounding NDNU 46-27. The +19 rebounding differential was the third-largest this season for BU. That effort resulted in two men finishing with double-doubles. Bagatourian ended with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Alex Wright was 14 points and 12 rebounds on an economical 5-for-8 shooting effort. 

Rossow joined the three other men mentioned with 10 points.
 
It was the Eagles' most dominant effort of the PacWest Conference season, so far. The team lead for 37:12 of the 40 minutes. Turnovers, particularly in the first half, were the only area of noticeable shortcoming for Biola. The team had 14 giveaways, with NDNU capitalizing for 15 additional points.

The win helps Biola improve to 11-7 overall and 7-5 in PacWest play. NDNU falls to 2-17 and 1-12 in the PacWest. Biola has now won six in a row over NDNU. The last loss, and only loss, came in 1994.

Up next for the Eagles is a 4 p.m. home game against Dominican (4-14, 4-8 PacWest) Saturday, Jan. 25.
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