Biola men’s basketball beat the Dominican Penguins 68-64 in a tense game that came down to a showstopping performance in the final minute.
The first half was evenly fought, ending in a 27-27 tie as both teams sized up each other’s defense. Dominican continually went down low in the paint. Their physical defense often sent doubles in the corner, giving Biola many open looks from beyond the arc with quick passes, but they went only 2-13, a measly 15%. The Penguins’ offense came from freshman point guard Jared Bush’s direction of the game as he often stood with the ball across midcourt and split the Biola defense. The Eagles matched every basket, scoring many of their points off the break in the first half as their defense forced many tipped balls.
Dominican asserted itself physically in the second half. Many of Dominican’s points came from inside the paint, as they attacked the interior of the Eagles’ defense and scored 44 of their 64 points from there. They ran the break mercilessly and freshman PJ Volz found his sweet spot from midrange. The fact that the bucket seemed 100-feet wide from up close in the paint pressured Biola. Before long, the Penguins found themselves up comfortably with 10 points and stymied all of Biola’s comeback attempts.
SHOOTING STRUGGLES
Generally a reliable shooter, sophomore guard Daniel Esparza struggled from the field, only going 2-10. Erik Howlin also had an off-night and went 1-9. Maximo Milovich, although he gathered many rebounds, left points at the free throw line, only going 5-9. Biola became more aggressive in their drives and went to the line 21 times in the second half.
CONFUSING STATS
The Penguins shot 47% from the field compared to Biola’s 37%; yet, the Eagles pulled away with what might be their most unlikely comeback.
Dominican had the win in the bag: they were up double digits with four minutes left in regulation. Redshirt senior Alex Wright quietly kept Biola afloat with his footwork in the paint, calculated floaters and three steals on defense — but the team would need something more.
60 SECONDS LEFT
The last minute of this game was unbridled chaos that had the crowd on edge. With the Eagles down six, Alex Wright hit a three pointer to cut it to three. Things seemed suddenly in reach. The free throw game brought the Penguins’ lead back to five. It was here that Alex Wright got hot. Not content to settle with one three-pointer, Wright squared up quickly and hit a second to cut it to two. The free throw game gave Biola a chance to tie as Bush would go 1-2. There were 20 seconds and counting on the clock. Wright got the ball, went to the left corner and nailed a stepback three to tie the game at 64. After the Penguins fouled Wright, he went to the line and put the Eagles up by one.
Dominican turned the ball over at the wrong time and Biola won the contest by four.
Biola will play Academy of Art on Saturday in Chase Gymnasium on Feb. 4 at 3:30 pm.
