OLIVER KIMOKEO | sports editor
In a tale of two basketball squadsculminating their journeys in a regular season fi nale at La Mirada, one team barely escaped a Biola onslaught while the other had a surefi re victory taken away from their grasp. It was a night where 10-point leads turned into 10-point defi cits and star players did not play to their full potential. Inconsistency was a self-torture method utilized by the Cougars on the evening of March 3 in the Chase Gymnasium. Neither Cougar squad could take control of their games even though they held leads of 15 points at certain times.
While women’s basketball was able to escape with a 58-55 victory, men’s basketball had a second-half meltdown and lost 51-49 on a lastsecond jumper from Biola’s Rocky Hampton.
“If the team can’t play every game with the importance it deserves, you’re not going to advance,” men’s basketball head coach Justin Leslie said. “I hope that’s not the case because if it’s that the case, we’re in store for a short postseason.” After the events of the other GSAC contests concluded, the Biola results did not change anything for the Cougars on the surface: women’s basketball maintained third place and men’s basketball stayed in second place after Concordia clinched the conference title. There is no doubt, though, that the Eagles wounded the confi dence of the Cougars heading toward the GSAC and national playoffs.
The fi nal regular season game of the season is supposed to be a statement of the talents and abilities developed throughout the season. Men’s basketball was riding high on an eight-game winning streak entering the contest; women’s basketball won the last six of seven games. The performance displayed by the Cougars was anything but exceptional as APU had poor execution and a lack of liveliness and swagger.
In women’s basketball, the Eagles started the game with leads of 10-0 and 24-15. It took the Cougars fi ve minutes to even make their fi rst basket after six failed attempts. Senior forward Abby Johnson fi nally broke the dry spell with a three-point play of a jumper and a free throw. Facing a nine-point deficit at 7:35, the Cougars used the next five minutes to fuel a 22-1 run to give APU a 12-point lead. This is the only time of either basketball game where the Cougars were fl uid and exhilarated. During this run, the Cougars made six consecutive fi eld goals with three 3-pointers from senior guard Sarah Leathers.
“We didn’t execute very well at the beginning of the game,” women’s basketball head coach T.J. Hardeman said. “But our players understood not to panic and they
eventually settled into the game.” Once half-time arrived, the Cougars held a 41-31 advantage over the Eagles. Only scoring 15 points in the fi rst 12 minutes, the Cougars scored 26 in the last eight.
APU was not quite as active in the second half as they were for the closing of the fi rst half. The Cougars continued the patterns developed at the beginning of the game and scored a season low of 18 points in the second half.
Points were a bona fi de rarity as the Eagles and the Cougars treated successful baskets as if they were precious jewels only to be handled with the slightest of care. There was a four-minute stretch where no points were scored and an additional two-and-a-half minutes of scoring futility. Biola shot 25 percent from the fi eld in the half while APU shot 23 percent.
At the conclusion of the game, it was a case of survival rather than triumph. A three-point win is nothing to scoff at in the whole scheme of things but it is defi nitely not a demonstration of will or power. “You’d like to fi nish the year off well, but against an arch-rival, you just want to win,” Hardeman said. “I’d rather have an ugly win than apretty loss, any day of the week.”
During the men’s basketball game, the Gymnasium was fi lled to the brim of its capacity of 2500 spectators. Approximately 10 percent of the crowd consisted of Blackout supporters who made the trip to cheer on the Cougars.
To counteract a Blackout surge, Biola followed the rule of where there is an action, there is a reaction. Taking the fundamentals of a Bizarro universe, Biola created a Whiteout cheering section to neutralize APU’s Blackout. Eagle fans wore simple white T-shirts with their slogan plainly stated: “Beat Azusa.”
Despite the well-wishes of the Biola majority, APU never relinquished the lead for the fi rst 35 minutes of the game. Even though the Cougars kept a healthy lead for the fi rst half, APU was playing to
Biola’s style of play. “We have to play better the whole game,” Danielian said. “Even when we’re up, we were playing at their pace of grinding-it-out. That wasn’t the pace we wanted to play. Coach wanted us to run it but we weren’t doing it.”
The Cougars played good defense, limiting the Eagles to a season- low 51 points. The Eagles needed 25 minutes to reach the 25-point mark.
“It wasn’t a defensive issue; it was an offensive issue,” Leslie said. “We got opportunities and we didn’t capitalize on them. We’re clearly capable of playing better but if we allow another team to outwork us, this will always be the outcome. There is a fi ne line between winning and losing. It usually to come down to the effort plays and tonight Biola beat us to those.” Even during the moment when APU was sitting cozy with a 41- 26 lead, Leslie saw the writing in the wall.
The fi rst-year head coach confronted frustrated junior guard Kimarley Williams, who had his sixth scoreless outing of the season, as he was returning to the bench. Leslie told him that “you’re a huge part of this, we need you, and let’s go.” The meltdown started with 12 minutes to go as Biola went on a 20-5 run to give the Eagles their fi rst lead at 46-45. With every ensuing Eagle basket, the Whiteout cheering section increased their intensity, raised the volume of their accolades, and became the sixth man for their players. “We just disappeared,” Danielian said. “Nobody was scoring and we just kept on getting turnovers. Biola kept on putting the ball and scoring to cut down the lead. It was too late for us to do anything.” The Cougars still had an opportunity to win the game in the fi nal minute. The score was tied at 49 but senior guard Davon Roberts missed two free throws. After a rebound, the Eagles took the clock down and Hampton scored with two seconds to go.
With a sour note to a melodious fi nal half of the season, the Cougars are looking ahead to the playoffs for redemption. Coach Leslie and the players are not satisfi ed with their Biola performance and remained confi dent in their postseason ambitions.
“We’re never happy to fi nish in second place. We’re always trying to get fi rst,” senior forward Todd Martin said after he led the Cougars with 14 points. “It’s defi nitely a disappointment. I’m a real positive person and I like to look at things positively. God’s teaching us something right now and it’s a blessing in disguise hopefully.”
