GOLDEN, Colo. -- The first appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs by Fresno Pacific and Biola was a nail-biter down to the end. But, in the end, it was No. 3 seed Biola with its first victory, 76-74, over the No. 6 seed Sunbirds in the opening round of the NCAA West Regional at the Lockridge Arena on Friday.
The end actually took about five minutes for the officials to declare Biola the winner. After a closer look at the video on an inbounds play by the Sunbirds and possible Biola foul with less than two seconds to play, the game was official and the Eagles made history.
“They (officials) looked at it for awhile and I think when they watched the tape, they had to make sure there wasn’t a foul,” said Biola coach Dave Holmquist, who notched his 1,002nd career victory.
Just prior to a free throw by Biola senior guard Chris Rossow to put the Eagles up, 76-74, Fresno Pacific had a chance to tie the game, but a layup attempt from under the basket rolled out.
“We’re just fortunate to get the win,” Holmquist said. “It could have gone either way. We’re happy to be playing another day.”
Biola (10-3) now advances to the second round and will play No. 2 seed and host Colorado School of the Mines (16-2). Game time has been moved up to 5:00pm (MST), due to a major snowstorm headed to the Denver area.
Holmquist reflected on the history-making program win, but knew there still is work to be done.
“It’s just a nice feeling. Right now there’s the thrill of it, but we have a game the next day. I feel relieved and just excited that we get to play another day.”
Fresno Pacific, in its sixth year of postseason eligibility, finished the year at 11-5.
“It was an extremely tough way to go out,” said Fresno Pacific coach C.J. Haydock, referring to the last second play. “Credit Biola. We got a three in a couple possessions before, that we thought was a good look and we got that layup at the rim. Neither one goes and obviously if those go, we’re having a different conversation right now. I’m just proud of all of our guys’ toughness to ride through all of those cancellations in the season. Nobody took a harder path to get here than us. We were built for this with our team culture and togetherness.”
Biola, in its second year of DII postseason eligibility, had five players in double figures and was led by All-PacWest junior guard Alex Wright with 20 points (9 for 17) and 12 rebounds.
“I think where to start is the end of the game,” Wright said. “We won. It was an ugly game all the way through, but at the end of the day, we got what we needed.”
Biola senior forward Jesse Elrod and Rossow each had 13 points and freshman center Max Milovich grabbed 12 rebounds and scored 11 points.
Fresno Pacific was led by a game-high 26 points by two-time All-PacWest senior guard Aamondae Coleman. He also grabbed nine rebounds.
Two other Sunbirds in double figures were All-PacWest players Nate Kendricks with 18 and Adrian Antunez 11 points.
Coleman and Antunez are currently third and fourth, respectively, on the all-time FPU career scoring list.
The Sunbirds took an early, 8-0, lead with a fast-paced start. However, Biola crawled back into the game with a 19-9 run to take its first lead of the game, 19-17.
The Eagles never trailed the rest of the first half as Elrod and junior guard Whitten Dominguez both connected with two 3-pointers each. Milovich led Biola with nine points on 4-7 from the field in the half.
Coleman, who was the leading scorer in the PacWest this season, led all scorers in the first half with 11. That was followed by junior forward Spencer Heimerdinger and Kendricks with nine and eight points, respectively.
Biola took a nine-point lead, 61-52, halfway through the second half when Wright scored eight-consecutive points on two free throws, a short jumper and two driving layups. Wright had 18 points at the halfway mark of the second half.
“He’s been consistently good all season,” said Holmquist, who started his coaching career at Fresno Pacific. “Even on that run where he got those points, there were some real nice passes. He’s a great teammate and a great player for us. We got up nine (61-52), then they cut it back down. We needed every point we got and we had that little cushion for a short time.”
The Eagles will now prepare for Colorado Mines in the second round.
“My mindset is, it is their home gym,” said Wright. “We now have a game on our belts in this gym."