Biola basketball splits games with Pt. Loma
Biola's Michael Bagatourian (0) drives around a Point Loma defender in their conference game at Biola University on Friday. Biola defeated Point Loma 69-62. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
LA MIRADA – This weekend could be big in two ways on the campus of Biola University.
The Eagles men’s basketball team could be close to securing their first NCAA Division II postseason berth in the West Regionals.
Biola officially became eligible for postseason play last year as they concluded their time as provisional members.
Even bigger, longtime coach Dave Holmquist is just two wins away from a milestone – 1,000 career wins.
Friday and Saturday, Biola will conclude the regular season with games against Concordia University.
The Eagles are home Friday and are at Concordia Saturday. Both games are at 4:30 p.m.
In addition, with the pandemic playing havoc this season on games in the conference being postponed, as of press time, make up games are in discussion. The date is TBD.
Tentatively, Biola will make up one of two postponed games against Pt. Loma next week. Another game, which could impact the Eagles for postseason, APU will make up one of its two games also against Point Loma. Both contests will be at a neutral site – Concordia University.
Sunday March 7 is the NCAA Division II Selection Show, announcing the Eight Regional brackets for the postseason. Biola is in the West Region, with six spots up for grabs.
Last weekend, the Eagles, who are one of four PacWest teams “under consideration” for post-season play, split two games against Nationally-ranked (NABC) No. 19 Point Loma.
In the first of two home-and-home games, the Eagles dominated Point Loma from the start and held on for a 69-62 win.
In the second game, Biola fell to Loma on their home court, 80-66.
“We played good defense and overall we played a smart game and good intensity,” said Biola Men’s Basketball coach Dave Holmquist of their first-game victory. “We have some good leadership out there with a lot of veterans.
“In dead ball situations, I think they helped us out to stay focused. It was a big win for us.”
In the first half, senior guard Michael Bagatourian (6-13 FG, 3-5 3PM, 10 RB, 16 Pts) gave the Eagles a double-digit lead, 20-9, near the midway point with a 3-pointer.
The Eagles kept up that pace, leading 37-25 at the break.
Playing perhaps their best defensive game of the season, Bagatourian gave a lot of credit to his teammates. “I think a lot of that is Whitten (Dominguez) and Jesse (Elrod) and Solomon (Ruddell) and Alex (Wright) - Jesse and Soloman on their big guy and Whitten and Alex on (Brock Mackenzie) their leading scorers.
“They made everything tough for them. I was really impressed and they played real hard. (Whitten) may have been the player of the game the way he played.”
The Eagles kept up the pace with a double-figure lead until the 6:13 mark when Point Loma drew within eight points.
Elrod (7-12 FG, 2-3 FT, 17 Pts.) gave Biola a nine-point lead, 65-56, with a short jumper with 2:08 left.
With more great defense by Bagatourian on the defensive end, which included a rebound and junior guard Chris Rossow (4-10 FG, 2-2 FT, 7 RB, 11 Pts.) diving for a loose ball, Biola kept control of the game.
A big offensive rebound by Dominguez and a subsequent free throw with :52 left kept the Eagles ahead by nine points, 66-57, and the eventual victory.
“His (Dominguez) intensity and caring-level are really important,” Holmquist said of Dominguez. “The offensive rebound he got at the end was huge. He helps you win even when he doesn’t score.”
The fourth Eagles player in double figures was Wright (5-9 FG, 2-4 3PM, 4-6 FT, 8 RB) with 16 points.
In the second-game loss to the Sea Lions, Biola had three players in double figures, led by Bagatourian (5-10 FG, 4-4 3PM, 2-2 FT, 7 RB) with 16. Wright (6-13 FG, 8 RB) and Elrod (3-5 FG, 1-3 3PM, 3-3 FT) had 13 and 10 points, respectively.
What they said
Whitten Dominguez, junior guard: “(Defense) is huge. I think the biggest thing is we always emphasize that defense is huge every night. And when it comes to the No. 1 seed (Point Loma), it really showed. The game is way easier if you work super hard on defense. This is what coach really harps about in practice.”
Alex Wright, junior guard: “This one (game one victory over Point Loma) is huge. It felt really good, because obviously they are the No. 1 team.
I think that was their lowest point of the year. I felt like we were locked in right from the start. Game-after-game we’re going to prove that and I love the team for that. We’re solid this year and I’m really happy to be part of this team. After that playoff run last year, I knew we were going to be good.
A good team (Pt. Loma) like that is going to crawl back. We were braced for it, we were ready for it and we took the punch and still stayed on our feet.”
Women’s basketball splits two with Pt. Loma
The Biola women split two games with Pt. Loma last weekend, winning the first, 96-93, in overtime and falling the next day, 91-75.
The win was only the third of the season overall for the women as they battled into overtime for the PacWest victory.
The Eagles (3-8, 2-8) were led by sophomore guard Stephanie Lee (6-13 FG, 5-9 3PM, 12-14 FT, 7 RB) and junior guard Aysia Johnson (6-10 FG, 4-6 FT, 9 RB) with 29 and 16 points, respectively, for the win.
Lee and Johnson also led in the overtime with a combined 13 points.
Biola had built up an 11-point lead, 58-47, early in the fourth period on a layup by sophomore forward Jordan Rabe (3-7 FG, 5 RB, 6 Pts). However, the lead had disappeared by the end of the quarter on a layup by Ellie Turk of Pt. Loma to tie the game with five seconds left and send it into OT.
Three other players were in double figures for Biola – Madi Chang (12 pts), Laila Walker (10) and Jazz Benn (10).
In the loss on Saturday, the Sea Lions took a 20-point, first- quarter lead, 33-13, and never looked back for the 16-point victory.
Leading the way for the Eagles was Lee (5-11 FG, 3-7 3PM, 2-3 FT) with 15 points, followed by sophomore guard Abigail Laberge (3-4 FG, 7-8 FT) and Chang (4-4 FG, 3-3 3PM, 2-2 FT) with 13 points each.
What they said
Coach Alan Nakamura: “I’m just real excited for the players. They have put in so much work. It was great to see the encouragement of a win and the success on the scoreboard as well.
We finished the fourth quarter (game two) with low energy and giving up some big baskets. I wasn’t sure how the team was going to respond in the overtime, but the team really showed their character. They really finished up with some open layups and 3-pointers.”
Stephanie Lee, sophomore guard: “Just coming out with a win and finishing off strong was what our goal has been and I’m glad that we followed through on that.
I’m just glad that we were able to come out and play strong and really battle against a team that is ranked. That says a lot about our team.
Aysia Johnson, junior guard: “It (win) was rewarding. We’ve been working for it all season and it’s just the best feeling in the world to see all the work you put in be worth it.
At the end of the day we beat a ranked team. Everybody in our conference except us is ranked and we’re putting our name on the map.”
Women’s Tennis defeats Westmont, 4-0
Biola's Colbeyshae Emery plays against Westmont in their women's tennis match last Friday. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
For only the fifth time in 63 all-time matches, the Biola University Women’s tennis team (2-2) defeated Westmont College. And, it came by way of a shutout, 4-0, last Friday (Feb. 19) in their third match of the season.
“We’ve improved a lot,” No. 1 singles and doubles sophomore, Colbeyshae Emery said. “I think it’s really cool to have a stronger team and come out here and beat a team that’s beaten us so many times.
“It’s so nice to finally be playing tennis. We are very lucky to be competing. Our first match against Saint Katherine (7-0 win, Feb. 6), we were all so excited. It was our first time competing in a year. It’s getting a little more normal to be out here, but we feel very, very lucky especially with everything going on.”
Biola has since played one match (PacWest) on Saturday (Feb. 20) and fell to Point Loma, 4-3.
In the Westmont match, No. 2 doubles Brooke Fager and Lilly McNeill won their match, 6-3. Biola picked up a second win as Westmont only brought five active players and won by forfeit in the No. three doubles position.
Two singles matches were completed with McNeill winning, 6-3, 6-3, in No. 3 singles and No. 5 singles Mary Brascia dominated her opponent, 6-0, 6-1.
Three singles matches were unfinished since the Eagles had clinched the match.
One of those unfinished matches was Emery, who was leading, 6-2, 5-2, just needing one more game for the win.
“Last year I got clinched against (Westmont) number one (Cade Pierson), the same girl I played (Friday),” Emery said. “She beat me 7-5 in the third (set).
“Once I lost that match last season, I came out of it saying, ‘that’s never going to happen to me again’. It was a 31/2 hour match.
“I came out of it (Friday) and I knew exactly what I needed to do and started really strong. As a team as a whole, it’s really cool. To have a losing record against a team and then to beat them like we did, it’s awesome.”
Emery has two unfinished matches to date and as she looks at it, “….however, I haven’t yet lost, so my win streak is continuing,” said Emery with a smile.
Sixth-year Biola Tennis coach David Goodman has just been glad to finally get out on the courts and play this season.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “Especially the fact that we were here in the Fall and we didn’t get to compete and we were just conditioning. It definitely feels like all of that was worth it, the fact that we’re playing.”
Woodman concluded by feeling good about finally beating Westmont after a few down years against the Warriors.
“We lost to this team the last three years and so it’s kind of fun,” he said. “It feels awesome. We haven’t had a whole lot of success against this team and to win relatively routinely is kind of a surprise, but a pleasant one.”