Eagles come away with 1-1 record after first GSAC games

The Biola men’s basketball team started off the week with a win against Vanguard University on Saturday, Dec. 3 and then was upset by The Master’s College on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The Eagles are now 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

On Saturday night, the men’s basketball team cruised to an 83-53 victory over Vanguard University in their GSAC opener. It was the Eagles’ fourth win by 20 or more points this season. Junior Chase Adams recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Eagles had a well-rounded offensive performance with four other players scoring in double figures. Senior Lamar Lee had 13 points, senior Davey Hopkins added 12, junior Will Patchell contributed 11 and junior Given Kalipinde nearly had a triple-double with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Junior Andre Murillo was harassed all night long thanks to Vanguard’s hard-nosed defense. On the season, Murillo averages 19 points and 11 rebounds per contest, but the Lions held him to a mere nine points on 2-4 shooting. However, all of the attention on Murillo in the post created open shots for his teammates on the perimeter. Biola drained 45 percent of their shots from behind the 3-point arc.

Eagles fall to Master’s on road

On Tuesday, Biola fell to The Master’s College 61-55. Lee led the team with 17 points and gained support from Murillo and sophomore Zack Zaragoza, who each added 10 points. Biola’s field goal percentages in each half tell the story of the game. In the first half, the Eagles shot 43 percent from the field and 70 percent from 3-point range. However, in the second half, their field goal percentage dropped to an unsightly 20 percent and they missed all 10 of their 3-point attempts.

“I think we missed some shots that we normally make,” Lee said. “We may have taken some questionable shots, but I think most of it was just missing shots that we normally make.”

Although Biola recorded its lowest field goal percentage of the season at 30 percent, they still managed to keep the score close during the final stretch of the game. This is in large part to the Eagles only committing six turnovers. It was the first game of the season that Biola did not rack up turnovers in the double-digits.

“It was a conference game, you can’t turn the ball over. I mean, it was a tight game all the way down,” Lee said.

With about one minute remaining in the game, Lee sank an off-balance runner to tie the score at 55-55. However, on the very next possession, Master’s guard Devin Dyer drained a jumper to give them the lead for good.

Although the loss was an upset, the men’s basketball team is showing signs of improvement.

“I think we’re growing closer as a team,” Lee said. “I think that if we play harder as a group for 40 minutes we’ll be right where we want to be.”

Biola returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 8 against Pomona-Pitzer College in Chase Gymnasium at 7 p.m.