Eagles fall one basket short, lose 67-65
The Biola men’s basketball team fell one basket short of completing a late-game comeback against Holy Names University at Chase Gymnasium on Monday night. The Eagles were defeated 67-65 in a tight matchup against the Hawks. Biola’s effort was powered by 19 points from senior Lamar Lee, a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds from junior Andre Murillo, and 11 points from junior Given Kalipinde. The Eagles now have a 3-1 record while Holy Names improved to 3-2.
The Eagles simply could not find a way to defend the Hawks’ senior forward David Scott who scored a game-high 26 points. He did not waste any time in building momentum for Holy Names and drained two 3-pointers within the opening minute of the game. However, the Eagles responded with several shots of their own and tied the game at eight on a 3-pointer by Lee. Both teams repeatedly fought for the lead for the rest of the half and ended the first period tied at 38-38.
Biola opens up a second half lead
Biola opened the second half with a layup by Murillo to take a 40-38 lead. The score was tied three more times as the game wore on, each team refusing to allow the other to build a size able lead. With 2:29 remaining in the game, Holy Names finally gained the largest lead of the night after two free throws by senior Karlos Grier made the score 62-57. Although Biola was down five points, they pulled together for one final push, energized by the chanting of “defense, defense, defense” by Eagles’ fans in the audience. Lee sank a jump shot from 15-feet out and then Kalipinde dished off a nice assist to Murillo for an easy layup to cut the lead down to three at 62-59.
Clutch shooting from Holy Names seals the victory for the Hawks
After a Holy Names timeout, Grier drained a 3-pointer as the shot-clock counted down to silence the home crowd. Lee then answered with a 3-pointer of his own to bring the Eagles once again within three points. Strong defense stopped the Hawks from scoring on the next possession and with 34 seconds remaining in the game, the Eagles had a chance to tie. However, after a missed 3-pointer by sophomore Zack Zaragoza, Biola was forced to foul and Holy Names’ Fabian Lopez sank two free throws to seal the victory with a 67-62 lead. Although the win was already out of reach, Biola played hard in the final seconds and Kalipinde drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the final score 65-67.
This was the Eagles’ first loss of the season, and although their team chemistry is improving with each game, it was evident that it is still a work in progress. They had 20 turnovers opposed to Holy Names’ 11. Biola returns to action on Nov. 16 in a home game against Cal State San Marcos at 7:30 p.m.
