COSTA MESA – Men's basketball topped Biola for the first time in 11 years, as the 67-61 win on senior night snapped their 7-game skid against the Eagles. The Lions boasted a balanced scoring output from their starters, ultimately outpacing Biola and marking another vital win to keep their Pacific West Conference postseason aspirations alive. The Lions (14-11, 10-9) are still four spots off where they need to be come next Saturday's regular season conclusion, but sit with a game in hand over the rest of the pack. Biola (13-13, 9-11) will need to win their final two games and hope the remaining teams ahead of them lose out in order to utilize their head-to-head tiebreaker advantages.

What Happened?
With senior day festivities and an overtime finish on the women's side, opening tip-off did not get underway until nearly an hour after its 7:30 bill time. Nonetheless, the Lions honored their seven graduating seniors: Bryson Metz, Pape Cisse, Aibigho Ujadughele, Kailen Rains, Devin Carson, Erik Howlin, and Sammy Howlin.

The lower-scoring affair was influenced by an overall tamer shooting split between the two teams. Biola fired off at 37% (20-54) from the floor, 26% from three (5-19), and 76% (16-21) from the stripe. Vanguard's shooting slate was not much better, at 42% (23-55) from the field, 26% (7-27) from deep, and a 14-27 (52%) effort at the line.

The game's scoring stream was launched by Tony Colley, who hit from three to kick off what proved to be a productive night for the junior. Biola answered back with a right elbow jumper to get themselves on the board (5-2).

Then the Lions started looking for Sammy Howlin, who made things happen all night from the interior. He was a bully going both ways for the Blue and Gold, and held his BU counterpart and fifth-leading scorer in the PacWest, Tyus Parrish-Tillman, to just 4-19 from the field with four fouls. Howlin scored four in a row, which included a tip-in basket, followed by a block and deuce on a reverse layup. Erik Howlin also scored his first points of the night, nailing a straightaway triple for a 10-6 VU score.

Cisse was the next Lion big to get involved, playing physical on the block to tag his own offensive rebound and flash one in on the putback. Ujadughele found his luck from the right wing, using the outlet pass from Rains to drain the three-pointer (17-12 VU).

Biola barreled a 9-3 run to go up by one (21-20), with the nation's eighth-best three-point shooter, Charlie Gehler, unloading from the left side of the arc to put the Eagles ahead. A Sammy Howlin finish on the post-move pushed him up to six first-half points and a 22-22 score heading into the media timeout. Biola sank back to back to free throws to try and reset the pace, but the 24-22 BU score with 3:26 to go would stand as the last lead of the contest.

VU's backcourt had their final nine points of the half, with a 9-3 split to lead 31-27 at the break.

The Lions' field goal percentage ticked up (43%) while the Eagles' ticked down (35%) in a second half that closed out with a slow burn. The half did not start that way, however, as VU launched out to a fast 12-4 run, largely thanks to Colley and Erik Howlin, who each contributed five points. The duo both packed on a three-pointer during the stretch, and Colley thrashed the rim in transition for the 12-point lead (43-31), which would stand as the highest on the evening.

With 13:44 on the clock, BU by no means felt out for the count. They steered three of their next four field goals on target, but had a hard time keeping Sammy Howlin in check down low going the other way. Colley also connected for a timely jumper with 11:27 left to go (46-38 VU) to dimish the Biola momentum.

The Eagles' best run to try and flip the score came soon after, with a BU free-throw haul guiding a 7-2 run to bring it down to a one-possession game (48-45 VU).

The free throws stacked up in a slower-paced finish, but VU had the answers with Howlin' the brothers in rhythm. Erik Howlin offered iso buckets, while Sammy Howlin wreaked havoc in the paint, putting four Eagles into foul trouble. The sibling duo combined for 13 of the final 19 Lion points in the game, as BU's late attempt to play the foul game cut down the scoreline, but not the result, as Vanguard planted themselves in the win column over Biola for the first time in over a decade.

Erik Howlin had a game-high 23 points, with six rebounds, shooting 7-10 from the floor and 3-6 from deep. He also had three dimes as Howlin netted his 12th 20-point game of the season. Colley tied his season-high 15 points on 6-11 shooting. Sammy Howlin was next with 12 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks, only missing twice on the night. The last double-digit Lion scorer was Metz, who finished with 10 points and three assists.

What's Next? The season-deciding road trip begins at Jessup on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.