Biola opened the NAIA tournament March 17 in Kansas City against Belhaven. Tip-off was at 11:15 p.m. local time. Biola got off to a quick start, scoring the first 13 points of the game, and held a 35-25 lead at the half. But a disastrous second half, including a 1-14 shooting start, almost doomed them. With 14:08 to go in the game, the Eagles found their lead cut to 40-39.
Biola’s defense carried them to a 66-54 win. Senior guard Danny Campbell led Biola with 18 points, while Hampton had 12 points plus eight rebounds. Hampton’s rebounds put him over 1,000, making him the third player in Biola history with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
On Friday, round two of the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament saw Hampton control Park University. He scored a career-high 32 points on 10-14 from the field and 12-14 from the free throw line, while grabbing 10 rebounds.
In the process, Hampton passed 1,600 points to 1,611 and moved into fourth place all time at Biola. The Eagles closed out the game on a 23-5 run and watched Park go 1-16 from the field in that stretch. At halftime, Biola was shooting 57 percent from the field, and Hampton had just two less points than Park had on the scoreboard. Park started the second half strong, cutting the lead to 51-37 with 14:12 to play when Biola rattled off 12 straight points driving the lead to 63-37 with just under nine minutes to play.
Biola ended the night shooting 56.3 percent, their fourth-best tally of the season. Junior guard Nate Rakestraw scored 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Senior guard Marlon King had 12 points, and junior guard Clay Martin scored a career-high 16 points. Biola also dominated in the paint, leading at the half 22-2 inside.
The Eagles played in their quarterfinal game against Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday. Biola started fast again, leading 31-17 at the half, helped by 20 points in the paint, but Oklahoma Baptist rallied back. Down by 16 with 14 minutes to play, the Bison went on a 24-8 run to tie the game, and took their first lead with 2:25 to play. Biola did not score a field goal in the last 3:13 and fell 59-54. King had 21 points and Hampton added 12 for the Eagles in the effort. Biola ends their season 29-6.
“It’s tough to end the season like that,” coach Dave Holmquist said. “To be up the entire game … But we had a good season and we have a lot to build on.”
After their impressive run in the NAIA tournament, Biola got one more piece of good news on Tuesday when Hampton became the fourth Eagle to be named NAIA first team All-American.
“He had a good year,” Holmquist said. “We played hard the entire season.”
Campbell also earned Honorable Mention All-American. Hampton set career highs in points and blocks in the post-season of this, his final year. He blocked seven Belhaven shots in the first round, and racked up 32 points on Park. Hampton ends his career with 270 blocks, over 100 more than the second player on that list.
