LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Dr. Dave Holmquist and these Biola Eagles took one big step closer to history on Friday with a convincing win over No. 9/14 Point Loma Nazarene. The Eagles served up coach Holmquist's 998th career coaching victory to the tune of a 69-62 throwback win.

Defense, physicality and a slightly slower pace on the offensive end harkened back to a more typical Biola Men's Basketball style, but a bit far from what we've seen out of this explosive 2020-21 group. How it happened didn't matter too much, because the result was exactly what this Biola team needed to solidify its standing in relation to the NCAA Division II postseason.

Earlier this week the Eagles were one of eight programs in the realigned west region to be named "under consideration" for the NCAA regional, which will feature six teams from the PacWest, GNAC and RMAC conferences.

"It feels great. We are on the up and up right now," said junior forward Jess Elrod. "We are playing really well and I think the team really feels it. These past four games or so we've really done a great job on the 'o-boards', which I think has been a big advantage for us."

Biola ended this game with 10 offensive rebounds to help it to a 46-38 overall advantage on the boards. It's the fourth-consecutive game with 10 or more offensive rebounds and the sixth time in eight tries this season that Biola's out-rebounded its opponent.

Michael Bagatourian did his best to contribute to that rebounding mark with a new season-high in the category. He had 10 rebounds to go with 16 points, four steals and four assists in one of the most well-rounded efforts of his remarkable Biola career.

Bags' effort was a major reason Biola never had much reason to sweat in this one, even going up an undefeated team who knocked them out of the playoffs one year ago and came into this one top-10 in the nation. 

Biola never once let Point Loma have a lead in the ballgame, scoring the first bucket on a Jesse Elrod layup, bouncing out to a 7-0 lead and never once looking back. The closest the game ever got to feeling competitive was when Loma cut things down to just five points at 57-52 with just over five minutes to play. 

That came after the hottest shooting stretch of the game for PLNU as they sandwiched a Griffin Barker triple and Mackenzie Brock triple around a Kaden Anderson jumper to go 3-for-3 over the course of a minute and wipe eight points out of the BU advantage.

A couple solid possessions after that had Biola back out to a nine-point advantage when Jesse Elrod hit a big mid-range shot with 2:08 to play.

Elrod had a grinding kind of night for the Eagles as he really felt ever-present on both ends of the floor. He'd finish with a team-high 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting in just 23 minutes. 

Biola was 4-for-6 on its free throws in the final minute to keep the Sea Lions at arm's length until time expired. Whitten Dominguez managed to block a PLNU shot in the final 10 seconds to keep being the pesky, solid defender he always is.

Dominguez had a pair of blocks and five assists to make an impact on the final outcome.

"You saw Whitten go after o-board after o-board at the end of the game right there," said Elrod. "It's plays like that which really change up the game."

Alex Wright (16) and Chris Rossow (11) also had double-digit scoring efforts as Biola shot 43.1 overall and sank nine threes in this one. Three of those threes came from Bagatourian as he continues to flash back a bit to his sophomore season when he was called upon a bit more as a shooter.

Biola held Point Loma to just 36 percent from the floor. It was by far their lowest percentage of the season.

So, the Eagles win their fifth contest in a row and improve to 6-2 (6-1 PacWest), while the Sea Lions drop their first contest since Feb. 15, 2020 to fall to 5-1 (4-1 PacWest). The two sides meet again on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Lomaland. Follow that game live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/plnu/.

"Tomorrow, the goal is to win again. Let's go 2-0 on the weekend," said Elrod.
 

NOW THAT'S A BIG ONE!https://t.co/h3KoNLHjkB pic.twitter.com/gpLSDfwbuy

— Biola Athletics (@BiolaAthletics) February 20, 2021