AZUSA, Calif. --- After witnessing one of the most memorable basketball games in the history of Biola Men's Basketball Friday night, it was hard to expect anything to even come close as Biola and Point Loma went toe-to-toe for the PacWest Tournament Championship on Saturday.
But, as it would turn out, the Eagles and Sea Lions turned out just as good of a game, if not better, when the trophy and NCAA Tournament berth was on the line. It was a game with so many twists and turns there was never once a clear-cut favorite to cut down the nets, until the final buzzer of the necessary overtime period.
Unfortunately for Biola fans, it was not Dr. Dave Holmquist's spirited Cinderella bunch that got to climb the ladder. Instead, it was first-year coach Matt Logie's Sea Lions who rode a literal buzzer-beating three-pointer into PacWest glory.
"We prepped the entire regular season to make these playoffs and make a run, and we did.​​​​​​," said junior
Michael Bagatourian. "
Unfortunately, today that last possession did not go our way, whereas the last two games we got a couple bounces and made a couple more plays. Credit where credit is due to them for hitting that shot."
That three came from the game's leading scorer and tournament's most outstanding player, Brock Mackenzie. Mackenzie ended the afternoon with 34 points. None were larger than points 32, 33 and 34, which also happened to be Point Loma's 96, 97 and 98th in a 98-95 single-overtime win over Biola.
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Biola, hands down the top story of the PacWest Tournament, gave the Sea Lions a very big scare, leading the game by as many as 13 points with just 3:57 left in overtime. Similar to the first meeting of this season between BU and PLNU way back in December, the Sea Lions found a way to erase a late Biola lead and steal a win by the narrowest of margins.Â
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We've improved a lot. I love this team and I'm real proud of this team," said Head Coach Dr. Dave Holmquist. "We talked all year about how the whole idea of this is to care deeply. The more you care the more you are vulnerable to deep disappointment, but also the more you can experience great joy, which we've had a lot of this past week."
The Eagles' 79-66 lead at that 3:57 mark was the largest lead either team had over the course of a game that saw both sides play basketball just about as well as they possibly could. The championship game was tied at 17 different points and saw the lead change hand a mind-boggling 19 times.Â
Even including Biola's brief explosion of scoring and stops that led to the 13-point lead, there was only seven minutes and 33 seconds throughout the entire 45-minute game where either team held a lead of more than five points.
Unfortunately for Eagles fans, that scoring explosion happened just late enough into regulation to have Biolans beginning to think of packing their bags for a trip to San Diego and Biola's first NCAA West Regional berth.
Biola built that large lead via a 9-1 run between the 5:57 mark and 3:57 mark in the second half. It didn't take much for there to be enough space for Biola to attack at that moment. Point Loma happened to string together three-straight empty possessions combined with one 1-for-2 free-throw effort, and the Eagles turned it into overdrive on the other end.
But, just 12 seconds after an emphatic Jesse Elrod three-point make and celebration made it a 13-point advantage, PacWest Conference Newcomer of the Year Darnell Robateau began to chip away for his Sea Lions.
His layup began a string of good fortune for PLNU that included a trio of three-point plays and a lot of made free throw that preyed on Biola's tendency to foul as the ball got moved inside. The Sea Lions went 5-for-5 on free throws inside of the final 2:16 to help complete the massive comeback and send the game to overtime at 81-81.
Biola, despite scoring just two points over the final almost four minutes of regulation, were able to see the game into overtime, but it was clear that Big Mo(mentum) was on the side of the Sea Lions into the extra period.Â
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It was an incredibly high scoring overtime, which is just five added minutes. The two teams combined for 31 points in the extra period, mostly charged by an uptick in three-point shooting.
There was six made three-point shots in the extra time. Four of those six came from PLNU, with Biola shooting two triples in the opening two-and-a-half minutes and then not scoring from distance again in the period.
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Point Loma made the threes throughout overtime, including two hit by Mackenzie inside the final 32 seconds of the game. Mackenzie made three triples in that overtime period, matching his average from the first two periods as he went 9-for-17 from three-point range.
Even with that shooting barrage, Biola managed to keep the game winnable all the way through the end with a gritty offensive approach. The Eagles matched the shooting early in the OT, but then turned attention to taking the ball hard to the hoop and drawing fouls. BU earned six free throws in the final 1:16 of overtime. All six were drawn by Chris Rossow and all six were converted successfully by Rossow.
The last two came with just 13 seconds left in the half and were good enough to tie the game at 95 and force Biola to try for one stop during the game's final possession of OT1.
Biola's defense did absolutely everything it could, but on this day Brock Mackenzie was just in too much of a groove to mess with his shot. With Rossow draped all over him, the Sea Lions' sophomore guard banked in the game-winner as time expired and BU's hopes of a regional berth were all at once deflated.
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It felt good to be able to compete at a high level. We came out here to try and win for our fans. It felt good," said junior Chris Rossow. "It felt good to be able to compete at a high level. We came out here to try and win for our fans. It felt good. It's been a good experience. I feel like I got better."
It was a career-high for made three-pointers and points for Mackenzie, who came into the game averaging just 11 points-per-game. He was, however, just one game removed from a 6-for-9 three-point performance in scoring 20 points as PLNU erased a large deficit from Chaminade in the semifinals.Â
Biola very nearly had six of its players go for double digits in the season finale. Whitten Dominguez, Solomon Ruddell and Jesse Elrod all finished up with nine points to go with 28 from Alex Wright, 23 from Rossow and 13 from Bagatourian.
Wright was incredible, especially throughout the first half. He scored eight of the Eagles' first 10 points and helped Biola to big leads early like 12-6 and 20-15.Â
We mentioned Rossow being money down the stretch from the free-throw line, but he was actually perfect for the whole game. Twelve of his points came from a season-best 12-for-12 effort from the stripe. Biola, which is a top-10 free throw shooting team in the nation, was 20-for-22 from the line in the game.Â
Point Loma had five players hit double figures, led by Mackenzie's 34 and Kaden Anderson's 25 points. Like Rossow, Anderson was perfect from the free-throw line, going 7-for-7.
Both teams had single-digit turnovers in the game, making it a very entertaining game to watch.
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After the game, Biola earned three spots on the six-person All-Tournament team, as voted upon by PacWest Conference coaches. Rossow, Bagatourian and Wright made Biola the only program with three honorees.
Biola's season comes to a close at 19-12 overall. The team's 13 PacWest Conference wins was a new program-best. The future looks very, very bright for this Biola team, which returns every player who saw significant minutes in this PacWest tournament run.
