Still looking for their first PacWest win, men’s basketball welcomed the defending conference champion Hawaii Pacific University Sharks. After an early run by the visitors, the Eagles came back strong to regain the lead before halftime. Biola continued to control the game, pulling ahead to a 53-39 lead with 9:03 to go. However the Eagles collapsed late and allowed the Sharks to come back from the upset bid, as HPU won the game 64-62 on a layup in the final seconds.
TREINEN GOES OFF
After a tight first 10 minutes, the Sharks pulled out to an eight-point lead with 8:36 remaining in the first half. Junior guard Trevor Treinen caught fire with five minutes to go before halftime, outscoring the Sharks 10-4 to close the half. The Eagles managed a higher field-goal and three-point shooting percentage than their opponents, but only carried a two-point lead going into halftime ahead 29-27.
“My teammates found me,” Treinen said. “We moved the ball really well on offense, and we got a lot of good open looks.”
The Eagles pulled ahead in the first five minutes of the second half, scoring six points out of the break and pulling ahead by eight. Freshman forward Michael Bagatourian and junior forward Alex Talma spurred Biola on an 8-2 run to pull the Eagles to their largest lead of the night at 14 with 9:03 left. However, the Sharks responded with a 14-0 run of their own, including nine points from guard Lorenzo Gordon-Haynes, to tie the game at 53.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
The last nine minutes of the game consisted of the two teams trading the lead until Talma hit a three-pointer with 1:03 remaining to give the Eagles a 62-60 lead. With the Sharks in the bonus, a foul by Treinen with six seconds left gave the visitors two free throws, which they made. A five-second violation from Bagatourian gave the Sharks the ball and a chance to win. A quick cut towards the hoop by forward Jonathan Janssen provided an easy layup to put Hawaii Pacific up for good, as Treinen’s shot on the other end came up short and the Sharks escaped with a 64-62 victory.
The Eagles had strong performances from all of their starters, including a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds from Talma and 21 points from Treinen, but the bench failed to score any points with the minutes they were given. On the other hand, the Sharks bench contributed 27 points to their victory, including 13 from Gordon-Haynes. The Eagles managed higher field-goal and three-point percentages while getting outshot from the free throw line by one percent.
Biola falls to 6-12 on the season (0-10 in the PacWest). They go on the road for their coming matchups starting with a game against Holy Names Universityon Jan. 25.
