Eagles Upset APU

Down by 15 in the second half, Biola men's team went on a 25-8 run and beat the Cougars 51-49, to assure themselves of a playoff spot.

Rocky Hampton’s jumper in the lane with two seconds on the clock completed a memorable comeback by Biola before a capacity crowd of 2,500 Monday night at Chase Gymnasium.

Biola finished the regular season 17-13 overall and 9-11 in GSAC play. APU, which entered the game ranked No. 15 in the NAIA National Poll, dropped to 21-9 and 14-6 in conference action. The Eagles’ victory also propelled them into the GSAC Tournament, and extended Biola’s streak of consecutive playoff appearances to 34 years.

The game was a must-win for the Eagles; a few moments earlier, Westmont had beaten Master's to pull into a tie with Biola in the standings. By virtue of a tiebreaker, Biola's win puts them into the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Eagles will open the playoffs on Thursday March 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Concordia, which wrapped up its second-straight regular season GSAC title with a win over Cal Baptist on Monday night.

The Eagles trailed the Cougars 41-26 with 14:32 to play, but went on a 20-4 run  and took their first lead of the game at 46-45 with 4:33 to play on an acrobatic layup by Marlon King. After each team added a pair of free throws, Davon Roberts gave the Cougars the lead back with a jumper with exactly 1:00 left on the clock. King then hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 49-49. Roberts–a favorite for GSAC Player of the Year honors–then missed two free throws with 31 seconds left, leaving the game tied.

Then, with the game clock winding down, a double-teamed Jones found Hampton all alone under the basket. Hampton's short jumper gave Biola a 51-49 lead with 1.9 seconds to go. After a timeout, the Cougars’ final rush downcourt was broken up by Jones as the horn sounded and jubilant fans rushed the court.

Hampton led the Eagles with 14 points and 13 rebounds, plus two blocked shots, while Jones finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, and Danny Campbell added 11. Josh Salo scored six points on back-to-back three pointers during Biola's 11-0 run.

Biola Athletic Department information contributed to this story. More game photos are online at The Chimes website.