No matter the sport this year, Azusa Pacific-Biola is hard on the heart, that is if you still have one, and considering what Azusa Pacific has done to Biola teams this year, it wouldn't be a surprise if the faithful in La Mirada have lost a lot of their heart.

The NAIA's No. 13-ranked Azusa Pacific built a 25-point lead and then blew the entire margin in just 16 minutes only to come back in the final seconds to beat Biola, 71-69, before 3,027 in the Felix Event Center Tuesday evening.

Todd Martin buried 2 free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining to avert a near colossal Cougar collapse and cap a season sweep of arch-rival Biola. In a rather eerie similarity, Azusa Pacific beat Biola in La Mirada last month, 71-70, after Demario Butler made 2 free throws with 5.1 seconds left in the game.

From the opening tip, there seemed to be little doubt that Azusa Pacific would win. Butler scored the game's first 7 points, and a spirited Azusa Pacific squad rolled out to a 14-4 lead. The Cougar defense was nearly impenetrable, holding Biola to just 8 points through the first 11 minutes of play while forcing the Eagles to miss 13 of their first 16 shots. The Cougars induced turnovers on Biola's first 4 possessions of the game. Before Biola could gather any semblance of order to its play, Azusa Pacific already had a 25-8 advantage midway through the half.

"Our defense was excellent in the first half," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "We had good ball pressure and we were fronting their big guys. On offense, we were moving the ball, and though we weren't shooting it great, we were getting good looks and working hard."

The Cougars were near flawless, and continued to roll, fashioning a 43-20 lead by halftime. And when Butler converted a put-back of his own miss to start the second half, Azusa Pacific was up by 25 points and the rout seemingly was on full throttle, much to the delight of the near capacity crowd.

However, Biola, which altered its scheme at halftime, began to push the ball, changing the pace of its attack and whittled away at the monstrous deficit it was facing, relaying on the play of Danny Jones, Lafayette Lofton and Solomon Mercado. The Eagles ripped off a 30-11 run of its own in less than 12 minutes. Jones scored 8 of his 14 points in that comeback run, which included a conventional 3-point play that gave the Eagles a stunning 63-62 lead with 3:20 left in the game.

"With the big lead, we lost focus on defense," said Odell, "and they picked up the tempo. Lofton played his best game of the season, and Mercado ignited them. I love that guy. He is such a terrific player."

Azusa Pacific answered with 5 straight points, highlighted by Scott Zea's 3-pointer from the top of the key that put the Cougars back up 67-63 with 2 minutes remaining. Azusa Pacific held that advantage until Mercado, who minutes earlier had back-to-back steals that helped pull Biola to within a single possession of taking the lead, now canned a step-back 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 69-69 with 35.8 seconds left in regulation.

Following a timeout, the Cougars worked for one final shot, but the ball rolled off the rim and in the scramble for the rebound that Martin eventually snared, he was fouled by Biola's Marlon King.

"It was kind of nerve-wracking with the large crowd but I said a little prayer, and God answered by calming me down," said Martin, whose free throw woes this season were on Odell's mind at the time. "It helped too that the coaches were talking about getting back on defense. I think that helped me get my mind off the free throws."

Martin finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds off the bench. Butler had a terrific all-around game, tallying a team-high 15 points to go along with 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists without a turnover in 28 minutes of play. Zea had 14 points and a team-high 9 rebounds, while Mike Danielian registered 11 points.

Tonight's win is another in a long string of stunning and dramatic Cougar victories over Biola this season. The Cougar volleyball team twice rallied from 2-0 game deficits to beat the Eagles, and then downed Biola in the playoffs for the last berth into the NAIA Volleyball Tournament. In men's soccer, Azusa Pacific rallied from a 2-0 hole with 2 goals in the final 15 minutes, including the equalizer with 13 seconds left, and then scored early in overtime for a 3-2 win. In baseball, after the Cougars rolled Biola 20-7 in the first game of a doubleheader, the Cougars came back with 3 runs in its final at-bat to force extra innings in the nightcap, which they eventually won 8-7. Now, men's basketball has plastered not one but 2 last-second victories over Biola by way of the free throw. In all sports this season, Azusa Pacific is now 11-0 vs. Biola this season.

With the hoops victory, Azusa Pacific closes out the regular season with an overall record of 24-6, and finishes tied for third in the GSAC at 14-6. Biola is 15-15 overall, 9-11 in the GSAC.

Both teams move on to the GSAC Postseason Tournament where Azusa Pacific hosts Westmont, Thursday (March 1) in a first-round game at 7:30 p.m. Biola will be at San Diego Christian.

"I think the GSAC tournament is a toss-up," said Odell. "We've never had the conference this balanced, and this could be the year of several first-round upsets. We need to understand that we have to play well every night."