Biola has started the season on a roll, this being their best start since 2010. Dishing out seven wins against six teams, the men’s basketball team has not lost this year and remains confident going forward.  

“I think if we have this conversation a week from now we’re still 9-0,” said senior forward Mike Kurtz.

It helps that they have not faced a very high level of competition yet. They have defeated four opponents so far by over 20 points, with their largest victory coming against La Sierra University with a final score of 78-48.

“It is a good reflection of what we’ve done, but I think the real test is going to be this week and the following week too,” said Kurtz. He later referenced Pomona-Pitzer as one of those tests, which they passed with flying colors. Biola’s defense has stifled its opponents by allowing 59 points on average while they consistently put up over 60 points a game.

Kurtz currently leads the team in points with an average of 16.7 points per game and fellow senior guard Pierre Zook follows close behind with an average of 16.3. Kurtz says his seven foot tall height helps his stats. For Zook it helps that he knocks down threes at the rate of 57.4 percent out of 47 attempts. To put that in perspective, NBA sharpshooter Stephen Curry has hit 44.5 percent of his 56 three point attempts over his last seven games. While Zook is bound to cool down a little as the season continues, if both these players keep producing the same results they have so far, the Eagles become a tough match for any team.   

Interestingly, Biola has a relatively young team with a few freshmen competing well on the court. Freshman guard Blake Shannon Jr. has averaged the most assists per game for the Eagles while fellow freshman Steve Herve has averaged 8.3 points.

Up next for the Eagles is Fisk University on Nov. 24. The Eagles with have almost a week to prepare for that game but it signals the start of a gruelling stretch where three games are played in three days from Nov. 24-26. After that, conference play starts Dec. 2 against San Diego Christian College. Last year the Eagles had a 6-8 record in conference games, a slight improvement from the 5-9 mark posted the year before. With the way Biola has played, they have a chance to depart from the recent trend. However, the Eagles themselves do not look that far ahead.  

“Our motto everyday is ‘One game at a time,’ and [we are] taking each game like they are the best competition that we have face all year,” said Kurtz.

A problem the team had last year, according to Kurtz, involved playing down to opponents’ levels. This year’s philosophy has changed, playing their hardest in every game, no matter the opponent or their own record. This mindset differentiates this team from Biola teams in years past and contributes to their undefeated season.