AZUSA, CALIF. – Azusa Pacific just can't seem to find the answer to the Biola riddle. For the third straight time, the NAIA's No. 2-ranked Eagles handed the No. 8-ranked Cougars their first loss since the season opener, a 78-67 decision in the teams' first-ever meeting before a school-record crowd of 2,407 in the Felix Event Center in Azusa Thursday night.
 
Azusa Pacific found it could not completely rely on junior forward John Bourne and sophomore guard Caleb Gervin, who combined for 53 of the Cougars' 67 points on 19-of-33 shooting from the field. Bourne scored a career-high 32 points, 19 in the first half, and Gervin tallied 21 points to pace the Cougar attack.
 
Instead, Biola used a balanced attack that featured 4 players scoring in double figures to outlast the Cougars' 7-man rotation. With the game tied at 61-61 with 4:34 to play, Biola forward Nate Strong scored all 10 points of a 10-1 Eagle run that gave Biola a 71-62 lead with 2:03 remaining.
 
Gervin and Bourne gave the largest crowd in school history a glimmer of hope, bringing the Cougars back to within 72-67 with 1:15 left in the game, but Rashaun Thomas, Strong and Terrence Richmond each sank a pair of free throws, and Azusa Pacific would not score again.
 
Strong paced Biola's offense with 22 points, including 14 in the second half, shooting 8-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-3 from 3-point land. Both of his treys came in the 10-1 run. Richmond finished with 16 points, and Thomas and Mark Thrash each tallied 15 points for the Eagles.
 
Bourne gave the Cougars a 22-15 lead on a free throw with 9:23 remaining in the opening half, only to see Biola reel off 17 straight points in just over 5 minutes to give the Eagles a 32-22 lead with 4:12 left in the half.  Sophomore guard Jeff Staniland ended the drought, scoring a lay-up that would set off a 10-0 Cougar run to tie the game at 32-32 with 1:51 left in the half.
 
Gervin and Bourne combined for 10 of the Cougars' final 12 points of the half to take Azusa Pacific into the locker room trailing 37-34.
 
With the loss, Azusa Pacific drops to 1-1 in GSAC play, 14-2 overall, while Biola improves to 2-0 in conference play and 12-0 overall.