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Bagatourian celebrates in crowd
George Rodriguez
69
Academy of Art ARTU 10-9,6-5 PacWest
71
Winner Biola BIO 14-4,8-3 PacWest
Academy of Art ARTU
10-9,6-5 PacWest
69
Final
71
Biola BIO
14-4,8-3 PacWest
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Academy of Art ARTU 24 37 8 69
Biola BIO 29 32 10 71

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Ethan McGarvey, Sports Information Director

Coming Up Clutch

A nail-biting overtime contest between Biola and Academy of Art ended in BU’s favor with a game-winner from Bagatourian.

LA MIRADA --- A midweek matchup inside Chase Gym featured a pair of formidable PacWest squads. The Eagles (14-4, 8-3 PacWest) hosted the Academy of Art Urban Knights (10-9, 6-5 PacWest), as the game turned into a back-and-forth bout, being fought in the trenches. The deciding basket did not come until the waning seconds of overtime with BU taking the win, 71-69.

The chaos began with a three-pointer from ARTU with three minutes remaining in regulation. The long ball gave the visitors their first lead in over 20 minutes of game action. Jesse Elrod responded in the big moment, draining a three of his own from the corner to give Biola control at 59-57.

A layup and two free throws from the Urban Knights created another lead change at 61-59. Chris Rossow was the Eagle to step up, hitting a pair of foul shots in the final minute to tie up the game and force overtime.

The two evenly-matched teams traded buckets in the first four possessions of overtime, pushing the score to 65-65. The first miss of overtime came from ARTU and Biola capitalized, taking the lead with a Michael Bagatourian jumpshot. A single free throw from ARTU was outdone by two makes from the charity stripe from Bagatourian, creating a three-point BU lead with two minutes remaining.

Klay Brown of ARTU took two attempts from beyond the arc to tie the game but missed both, as the final 60 seconds were ticking on the clock. A BU turnover gave the visitors another chance to eliminate their deficit. This time, Brown delivered from deep, knotting the game at 69 apiece. 

Before the Urban Knights could finish their sigh of relief, the Eagles pushed the ball up the court and got the ball to Bagatourian. The senior made room in the paint for an easy layup with six seconds on the clock. The 71-69 Biola advantage would hold for those six seconds, as Bagatourian's bucket proved to be the game-winner.

Bagatourian was the star of the night for Biola, stuffing the stat sheet with 28 points and nine rebounds. He also added four assists, while going 10-16 from the field for a 62.5 field goal percentage.

"We have so many great players and so many guys who can score," said Bagatourian "In this game, I was finding the ball in the right spots, thanks to my teammates finding me wide open. That's all them."

The opening 20 minutes of action on Thursday night was a defensive battle between two tenacious teams. BU and ARTU combined for just 53 points in the first half with neither team reaching 30. Whitten Dominguez was relentless on defense, pulling in six steals on the night.

Biola came alive in the final eight minutes of the half to storm out in front. The host squad put together a 17-4 run to finish the half, giving them a five-point lead. The defense stayed strong for Biola in the run, as it held the Urban Knights scoreless for five minutes. 

Offensively, the Eagles turned it around with an all-around team effort. Five different Eagles contributed to the 17 points, including six from Alex Wright. The biggest bucket came from Wright, who slammed home an emphatic dunk that gave BU the lead.

Rossow played a major role in Thursday's win, impacting every part of the game. The 5-9 guard dished out a team-high five assists, including the pass on the game-winner. The strong play did not stop there, as he logged eight points, five rebounds and two steals.

"The crowd support the last couple games has been unbelievable. It's been the best since I've been here," commented Bagatourian after the triumph. "We are blessed to come out of here with the win and hopefully we can do it again on Saturday."

Once again, the Eagles will be at home for their next contest, taking on Hawaii Hilo on Saturday at 7:30 pm.
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