Despite facing three National Collegiate Athletics Association colleges this past week, the men’s basketball team remains a perfect 7-0 on the season. With wins over the California State University San Marcos Cougars, California State University Chico Wildcats and the Pomona-Pitzer College Sagehens, Biola looks more and more like the team projected to win the Golden State Athletic Conference.
Archer, the sharp shooter
The Eagles played all their games on the road this week, first traveling to Irvine, Calif. to face the Cougars on Nov. 11. San Marcos and Biola fought back and forth through the entire first half, with the Cougars taking a five-point lead into the break. Senior guard Dakari Archer led the Biola offense with 11 points followed by five points from sophomore guard Trevor Treinen.
During the second half, both teams kicked into high gear and scored nearly a combined three times the amount of points as the first half. The Eagles had a two-point lead with eight seconds left, then scored two free throws to put the game out of reach. Archer himself scored more points in the second half than Biola had at halftime, as he ended with a total of 37 points in a new career-best performance. Biola walked away with the 65-61 win in a hotly contested game from start to finish.
The following day, Biola returned to Irvine and faced Chico State in yet another challenging match. The Eagles fell into a hole late in the first half, eventually entering halftime trailing by a score of 33-26. Senior forwards Jeff Gonzalez and Ryan Swain led the Eagles’ scoring effort in the first half with eight and seven points, respectively.
Still undefeated
In the second half, Biola chipped away at the score until they finally took the lead with 11:09 left on the clock. They had an 11-point lead at one time, but Chico refused to go away and brought it back to two points with 14 seconds left. A Chico player got fouled and went to the free throw line with the opportunity to tie the game, but missed his first free throw and made the second. That allowed Biola to inbound the ball and let the clock expire, giving them a 59-58 win. Gonzalez added 12 second-half points, bringing his total to a game-high 20.
Completing the road trip, the Eagles went to Claremont, Calif. to face Pomona-Pitzer. Biola controlled the game the whole way, scoring 37 points in both halves on the way to a resounding 74-50 win. Four Eagles ended with points in double digits, Swain with 10, Archer with 12, Treinen with 14 and senior forward Caelan Tiongson with 16.
Riding the momentum from these victories, Biola will return home to play the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Eagles on Nov. 23 at 4 p.m.
