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Chris Rossow driving past CUI defenders
George Rodriguez
67
CUI CUI 13-13,10-9 PacWest
69
Winner Biola BIO 21-7,14-6 PacWest
CUI CUI
13-13,10-9 PacWest
67
Final
69
Biola BIO
21-7,14-6 PacWest
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
CUI CUI 36 31 67
Biola BIO 27 42 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Comeback Time

Biola uses 15-2 run to flip game on its head and win first-round matchup with CUI.

FRESNO, Calif. — Smart halftime adjustments and veteran resolve late in the game keyed a tournament-opening 69-67 win for Biola Men's Basketball on Wednesday afternoon at the FPU Special Event Center. 

A slow start had no. 3-seed Biola down by nine at halftime against no. 6-seed Concordia University Irvine However, Biola focused on forcing the ball inside in the second half and used a major early-half swing to get a lead and set up a return to the PacWest Conference semifinals (Friday).

"We knew it would be a game," said Dr. Dave Holmquist. "We were hoping it wasn't going to be that close, but all three games against Concordia have been like that. We've had the play from behind in all three of them, and we're fortunate enough to win them."

Fortunate is right as things were not looking very good for Biola in the early going as they managed just 27 first-half points and were just 1-for-7 from beyond the arc through the first 20 minutes.

The Eagles started slow while CUI began the game hot, or at least one of their players did. CUI's Josh Caston, who won a PacWest tournament title with Point Loma over these Eagles two years ago, was firing on all cylinders to start this game out. He made three shots in a row to score CUI's first eight points of the game and play a big role in an early 11-4 lead.

Caston would end up with 14 first-half points and 21 total points in the ballgame, equating to about a third of the CUI team's total offense. His cooldown in the second half was a big lift to Biola as they began to turn the tide.

"I think playing early was probably an adjustment for all the teams what I think it affects most is the outside shooting," said Holmquist. "And so we focused in the second half on trying to penetrate more and play a more physical game. We tried to get to the free throw line more, and then we just played better."

Better is right. 

CUI scored first in the second half, a jumper by none other than Caston to push the lead all the way to 11. But, after that Biola managed to utilize a 15-2 run over a little over three minutes to take their first lead of the ballgame at 42-40 with just inside 15 minutes to play. 

The pivotal part of that run was the sequence that led to the team taking the lead. CUI was called for two fouls on the same play - one a common shooting foul and another a technical on Cameron Fini. 

That awarded Biola four-straight free throws and a possession to try for a six-point swing. Sure enough Maximo Milovich and Chris Rossow clanked home all four freebies and then Whitten Dominguez scored a pair down low to turn it fom 40-36 CUI into 42-40 Biola.

Dominguez had a few tough baskets right around the rim, which was a clear indication of the change in strategy mentioned by Holmquist as it's pretty rare to see the shooting guard down there.
 
"You could feel the difference of teams," said Chris Rossow. "We were locked in more second half because we knew it was win or go home."

Rossow is the prime example of one being locked in. The point guard continued to own Concordia University Irvine by leading all scorers with 29 points when things were all said and done on Friday. The fleet-of-foot scorer was 12-for-19 overall and 7-for-9 on two-point attempts in the second half. 

The 29 points was the exact average Rossow came into the game with in games against CUI this season. He had a previous 31-point effort and then a 27-point effort. It's safe to say its a good matchup for him.

"Coach came in at halftime, gave us a good talking to and we put the game plan in play," said Rossow.
 
The Eagles' second-half surge would expand the BU lead to as many as 12 points (up 61-49 with 6:53 left to play), but a lengthy late scoreless streak would open the door for CUI to get back into it and press the issue late in the game.

Biola was held without a field goal from the 5:00-minute mark until there was 35 seconds left in the game. That scoring draught turned a 63-53 advantage into a 65-64 nailbiter.

It was a clutch, and difficult, layup by Michael Bagatourian that broke the streak and bought some breathing room at 67-64 for Biola.

"We're a veteran team. All of us who've been together for years now, with Chris for three years, Michael for five years and a lot of the starters being here forever." said Alex Wright. "We know Concordia very well. We know that they're always going to make their run. They're gonna make their push. So we kind of had our feet set, ready for that. We were ready to take those punches and just do what we had to do to win."

Biola did just that, with Rossow going 2-for-2 from the free-throw line to keep the three-point advantage and Bagatourian pulling down a critical defensive rebound on an intentional free-throw miss to ice the game.

The win punches Biola's ticket to Friday's semifinals and gets the team some well-earned time off to spend together the next 48 hours or so.

"Like Alex said, these guys have been together a long time," said Holmquist. "And so these trips are always fun to create some good memories, and I think we'll build on those memories today and tomorrow.

This playoff battle was another epic entry into the catalog of 40 all-time matchups now between coaching legends Holmquist and CUI's Ken Ammann. The win is Biola's ninth straight over CUI and gives Holmquist a 22-18 advantage in the head-to-head battles with Ammann. For Ammann, the season comes to an end with him sitting on 499 and looking for career win number 500. 

Rossow finished with 29 points, five rebounds two steals and a pair of assists. Bagatourian picked up a double-double for Biola with 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds and Alex Wright joined the pair in double figures with 10 points of his own. Wright also had seven rebounds and three steals.

A key cog in the second-half comeback was Maximo Milovich, who's making his PacWest tournament debut this year. The redshirt freshman was 2-for-3 from the field and 4-for-6 from the line to make eight points and eight rebounds while blocking a pair of CUI shots.
 
The Eagles await the winner of a first-round matchup between No. 7 seed Hawaii Hilo and No. 2 seed Azusa Pacific. The next game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Friday, March 4 at the FPU Special Event Center.

Two years ago Biola beat CUI in round one and APU in the semifinals to punch a ticket to the finals. Will history have a chance to repeat itself?
 

 
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