Biola hit the road to Whittier, Calif. for a matchup against the winless Northwest Indian College on Dec. 15 and defeated them in blowout fashion by topping the century mark for the second time this season.
Junior guard Blake Shannon, Jr. displayed offensive prowess by contributing 18 points on 6-8 shooting from the field. Junior forward Steve Herve continued his recent stretch of commanding play in the paint as the big man chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds. Fellow forward and sophomore Alex Talma furthered his first year success in the Eagles’ frontcourt rotation by scoring 16 points. Senior forward Connor Getting achieved his best game of the season with 12 points off the bench. The Eagles capitalized on a depleted NWIC defense all night as Biola saw six of their players finish in double-digit scoring. Even though Biola’s offense shot efficiently, the true key to the Dec. 15 win proved the Eagles’ astounding dominance off the glass, as they out-rebounded NWIC 62-20.
To follow up their convincing win, Biola traveled to San Dimas, Calif. to take on the Life Pacific Warriors on Dec. 17.
The Warriors kept it semi-close in the first half with a 33-23 score at halftime. In the first five minutes of the second half, the Warriors closed the gap even further to five points.
Nevertheless, the Eagles’ shrinking lead proved a huge tease as senior forward Caelan Tiongson put the team on his back and pushed Biola to a 23-point win, 72-49. Tiongson managed to score 15 of his 21 points in the second half while grabbing six rebounds. The Eagles had three others in double figures including Talma and Tiongson’s fellow senior teammates: guard Dakari Archer, and forward and guard Ryan Swain. Swain finished one rebound shy of a double-double. Akin to their Dec. 15 win, the Eagles outrebounded their opponent once again, this time 42-30.
With the win, the Eagles move to 13-1 on the season. Biola will have a two-week break before heading home to close out 2016 with a matchup against the University of the Fraser Valley on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m.
