AZUSA, Calif. – It was all there for the taking, but the Cougars came up short in the PacWest semifinals Friday night at the Felix Event Center, falling to their archrival Biola, 82-79.

The opening five minutes suggested anything but that outcome, as the Cougars exploded out of the gate, opening the game with a 20-2 run during which all five starters scored.  Slowly, the Eagles would work their way back into the game, with guard Chris Rossow doing much of the heavy lifting, scoring 15 points in the first half to keep the Eagles within shouting distance as they narrowed the Azusa Pacific lead to 10 points at the half.

Biola continued to chip away at the lead in the second half, and would finally take their first lead of the game at 59-58 about with about 12 minutes to play.  Terrance Becvar quickly gave the Cougars back a slim lead with a layup, and the Cougars would continue to hold a slim advantage for the next six minutes of game time.  Michael Bagatourian would put Biola ahead, 74-73 with 4:48 remaining, however, and the Eagles would not trail again.

Becvar would hit a three-pointer with just under a minute remaining to tie the game at 79-79.  After the teams traded misses, Biola worked the clock down and Bagatourian would hit a three from the right wing with 4 seconds to play to provide the winning margin.  Brennan Rymer would have a look from the top of the arc at the buzzer, but couldn't send the game to overtime.  It was the 42^nd three-point shot the Cougars had attempted in the game, making 12.

The ending spoiled a fantastic effort from Selom Mawugbe, as the PacWest Player of the Year finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 steals.  Becvar had 17 points off the bench.  Jake Spurgeon had 11 points and 6 rebounds, while Noah Bundrant finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds.  Rossow had 27 for Biola to lead all scorers, while Bagatourian's game-winner gave him 20 points on the night.

Azusa Pacific (25-4) was second in the final regional rankings that came out Wednesday, and will now wait to find out where they will be seeded in next weekend's NCAA West Regional playoffs.  The brackets will be announced live on ncaa.com Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m.