Given Kalipinde fights off a defender at the Nov. 14, 2011 game against Holy Names. Biola lost a close game of 65-67. | Tyler Otte/THE CHIMES
Biola men’s basketball defeated Arizona Christian University in a 76-49 blowout on Saturday in their first home game of the season, and then fell to Holy Names University 67-65 in a tight matchup at home on Monday. Biola now has a 3-1 record for the season.
The NAIA No. 15 Eagles were firing on all cylinders against Arizona Christian, outdoing the Firestorm in almost every statistical category. Sophomore Zack Zaragoza led the Eagles with 20 points and added eight rebounds. Senior point guard Lamar Lee added 12 points and junior Chase Adams contributed 11 to round out Biola’s double-digit scorers.
Accurate shooting is difference-maker in easy win
The Eagles took control of the game from the tip-off, shooting an accurate 60 percent from the field compared to Arizona Christian’s 34 percent in the first half. Biola entered halftime with a 41-23 lead.
Arizona Christian slightly cut into the lead in the second half, but it was not nearly enough. They ended the game with only one player in double figures, Jared Culbert with 10 points.
Biola dominates most aspects of game versus Arizona Christian
Biola outscored Arizona Christian in points in the paint, points off turnovers, second chance points and fast break points. The Eagles also shot a 52 percent on field goals for the game, but shot only 58 percent from the free throw line. However, Biola continued to struggle with turnovers, which has been the trend so far this year.
Eagles fall one basket short, lose 67-65
On Monday, the Eagles fell one basket short of completing a late-game comeback against Holy Names University at Chase Gymnasium. Biola’s effort was powered by 19 points from Lee, a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds from junior Andre Murillo and 11 points from junior Given Kalipinde. The Hawks received a game-high 26 points from senior forward David Scott as well as 13 points from senior Karlos Grier.
The Eagles simply could not find a way to defend Scott. He did not waste any time building momentum for Holy Names and drained two 3-pointers within the opening minute of the game.
“He’s [Scott] sort of a mismatch,” Lee said. “He’s like, 6’ 2”, and he can move, so we couldn’t really put a big guy on him and when we put a smaller guy on him, he was strong. We just have got to play better team defense.”
The Eagles responded with several shots of their own and tied the game at 8-8 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.
Eagles go seven down, but have a late game surge
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 sizable lead. With 2:29 remaining in the game, Holy Names finally gained the largest lead of the game with two free throws by Grier to make it 62-57.
Although Biola was down seven points, they pulled together for one final push. 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 59-62.
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 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 the game. However, after a missed 3-pointer by Zaragoza, Biola was forced to foul and Holy Names’ Fabian Lopez sank two free throws to seal the game with a 67-62 lead.
With the win 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 67-65.
One of the big questions that faced this new Biola team before the season started was whether the players would have good chemistry. Those questions proved valid as turnovers have been a recurring problem in the first four games of the season. Against Holy Names, Biola turned the ball over 20 times.
“We haven’t been playing together for a long time, but it’s still basketball. We still have got to do things better,” he said.
