AZUSA, Calif. – The Azusa Pacific basketball team suffered a setback at home on Friday evening, falling 81-71 to Biola in the Felix Event Center. The season series is now 2-1 in favor of the Eagles. Brennan Rymer led the Cougars with 19 points, while Mandrell Worthy added 18.

How it Happened: Meeting for the third time this season, the teams didn't need much of a feeling-out process, and things were back and forth for most of a hotly-contested first half.  Neither side would lead by more than five points during the first 17 minutes of the game, with the Cougars holding their largest advantage at 15-10 after a pair of Sasha French free throws. 

Turning Point: The Eagles took charge of the game at the end of the first half, shutting the Cougars down over a four-minute stretch and closing the half on a 12-0 run to turn a tie game into a 37-25 advantage going into the locker room.  Alex Wright would stretch that run to 15-0 with a three-pointer to open the second half, and the Cougars would never get within nine for the remainder of the contest.

By the Numbers: Michael Bagatourian was dominant all evening for Biola, as the senior forward led all scorers in the game with 31 points.  As a team, Biola shot an impressive 24-28 at the free throw line.  The Cougars struggled from the three-point line for the second game in a row, shooting just 7-29 for the game, and at one point in the second half were just 3-20.  Azusa Pacific's best stat of the evening was their ability to convert 11 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. 

Up Next: Azusa Pacific (3-3, 3-2 PacWest Southern California pod) will look to snap a two-game losing streak when they head south to La Mirada for the final meeting of the season against Biola Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The game can be seen for free on the Biola Athletics' YouTube channel. The Cougars' next home game will be on Tuesday, February 16, when they host Fresno Pacific in what will be considered a non-conference match-up.