After Thursday’s loss against Chaminade University, men’s basketball bounced back Saturday night with their second win of the season against Hawaii Pacific University. The Eagles won easily, 70-56, led by senior guard Trevor Treinen with 27 points and senior forward Alex Talma with a double-double.
Biola’s offense started strong with three 3-pointers within the first two minutes. Talma recorded two rebounds and a 3-pointer early on. The Eagles continued to hit their shots with Treinen shooting a 3 and dunking off a quick offensive transition to make the score 16-10. Despite HPU’s attempts, the Eagles defense held strong and Treinen increased the lead with a layup and another 3-pointer.
The Eagles moved the ball quickly on offense, allowing sophomore guard Michael Bagatourian to hit a 3-pointer and freshman guard Alex Wright to add a layup, making the score 31-14. Wright took control on defense with a rebound to force an HPU timeout with three and a half minutes left. At halftime, the scoreboard read 35-14, Eagles.
“I just got in a good rhythm. My teammates hit me in good spots. After I get those going, it feels good to play,” Treinen said.
The second half began with a layup from Hawaii and tough defense to back it up. Senior forward Levi Auble broke down HPU first with a 3-pointer, leading the way for a 3-pointer from Bagatourian moments later. Two minutes later, Bagatourian hit another 3 assisted by Wright to make the score 44-20. Bagatourian recorded his fifth 3-pointer of the night assisted by senior guard Christian Carroll.
Advancing into the end of the half, the Eagles played aggressive ball, and hit several free throws in order to keep the lead. While being fouled, Treinen pushed in a layup to make the score 58-38. With three minutes left in the game, Treinen hit a jumper, adding to Biola’s lead of 20 points. The Eagles finished out the game with a final score of 70-56 when the buzzer sounded.
“We hit some shots tonight and when we do that we are pretty good,” said head coach Dave Holmquist.
The Eagles (14-12, 10-10 PacWest) will be back in Chase Gymnasium Thursday at 7:30 p.m. to take on Dominican University.
