AZUSA, CALIF.– The NAIA's No. 4-ranked Biola withstood a furious second-half charge, caught its wind in the final minutes, and held on to beat No. 5-ranked Azusa Pacific, 79-73, in a battle of GSAC leaders Thursday night.

Up by 7 points at halftime, Biola opened the second half with a 20-9 run to assume a commanding 57-39 lead with 13:17 left in the game. All-American guard Marcus White led the charge from the second-half gate, scoring 10 of his team-high 18 points during the run.

However, the Cougars caught fire and put together a 16-2 run over a 5-minute stretch to rally to within 59-55 with 7:19 left in the game. All-American Kevin Daley teamed with Damian Raibon to score 14 of the 16 points in the run, with Daley capping the comeback with a pair free throws.

Azusa Pacific remained in the hunt and even pulled to within 2 at 68-66 on a Gary Dredge lay-up with 4:17 remaining. However, Dredge fouled out at the 4-minute mark and with no Cougar to slow Biola's 6-foot-11 Andrew Carlson, the Eagles answered with a 5-2 run with Carlson scoring 3 points to give the Eagles a 73-67 lead with 2:49 to play.

Daley led all players with 31 points, including 25 in the second half. A master defenseman, White collared Azusa Pacific's Jerome Joseph, who entered the game averaging 23 points in GSAC play but finished this night with just 12.

Carlson aided White's effort with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Chris Boyd added 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Carlson's 3-pointer at the buzzer handed Biola a 37-30 lead at the half. Other than an early trey by Jeff Staniland to give Azusa Pacific a 3-2 lead, Biola held control of the first half, leading by as much as 8 (32-24). The Eagles used an 8-0 run to assume a 10-3 lead after a Mark Thrash bucket at the 15:21 mark. Though they never did, Azusa Pacific had several first half opportunities to tie the game, but 12-for-31 (.387) shooting mired the Cougar offense.

Biola hands Azusa Pacific its first loss at home this season (12 games) and collects its first win in the Cougardome since 1992, snapping a 7-game losing streak. Combined with a 70-57 Eagle win over Azusa Pacific on Jan. 6, Biola also collects its first regular-season sweep of the Cougars since 1991.

Biola improves to 19-3 overall, 10-1 in the GSAC. Azusa Pacific falls to 19-4 overall, 9-2 in the GSAC, a game behind Biola.