The men’s basketball team suffered a tough loss last Thursday night, Nov. 29 as they let a hard fought game slip away against No. 22 ranked conference opponent Point Loma Nazarene University in the last five minutes of play. Although the Eagles led by more than 10 points, they were unable to hold the lead and lost 63-59.
Despite losing, they played very well with three players scoring in the double digits. Senior forward Danny Jones and sophomore forward Rocky Hampton led the way for the Eagles with both earning double-doubles. Jones scored 16 points and grabbed 14 boards, while Hampton scored 14 points and 18 rebounds.
Biola led the entire second half, but with the time running out Point Loma came alive and started to hit shot after shot. The Eagles, who did not score a single field goal in the final six minutes couldn’t match the Sea Lions’ hot streak.
In the end, the heartbreaking loss came down to free throws. In the final minutes the Sea Lions hit three of four free throws, while the Eagles missed three of four, which ended up being the difference in the game.
On Saturday, the men helped settle the score as they took on Cal State Maritime at home. The Eagles’ offense started slowly, but exploded in the second half which catapulted them past the non-conference opponent Keelhaulers by a final score of 71-44.
For the Eagles, Hampton led the night in scoring, as he finished with 16 points with eight boards to go along with an impressive six blocks. Freshman guard Luke Duperron added 14 points of his own on the night while sophomore Marlon King rounded out the scoring with 12 points shooting a nearly perfect 4-5 from the field.
The Eagles battled back and forth with the visiting Keelhaulers in the opening minutes of play, but when they finally got rolling, Biola’s men were unstoppable. They outscored Maritime 40-18 in the second half as they hit 56 percent of their shots as opposed to only 23 percent hit by the Keelhaulers.
Although the offense came out shooting, sophomore guard Danny Campbell made it clear that it was the defense that was the key to the Eagles’ success.
“We started out slow in the first half,” said Campbell, “but in the second half we picked it up by playing real tough on defense.”
He went on to state that defense would be the key to their success for the remainder of their season.
“Our defense gave us momentum to take the game,” he said, “and defense is going to be the leading factor for our team for the rest of year.”
Indeed it was the Eagle defense that carried the men to their second consecutive victory Tuesday night, Dec. 4, as they took down the Whittier College Poets 59-45.
Again, Danny Jones and Rocky Hampton led the way for the Eagles, both contributing double-doubles. Jones scored 19 points with 14 boards while Hampton scored 16 to go with 13 rebounds. After the half the Eagles never led by less than 11, and when the Poets began to show a little life, back-to-back three’s by sophomore Danny Campbell and freshman Luke Duperron effectively put the game on ice.
The Eagles moved to 6-3 on the season with the win. They will continue this week with non-conference play at home on Dec. 8 against NCAA Division III Pomona-Pitzer College, game starting at 7 p.m.
