Men’s basketball: Lions nearly pull off huge upset

Tony Altobelli

LA MIRADA - The Vanguard University men’s basketball team’s season

of near misses added another painful game to the collection following

Saturday night’s 73-71 Golden State Athletic Conference loss to host

Biola.

It was a game dominated by the Lions early, dominated by the Eagles

late and nearly stolen back by the never-say-die Lions in the game’s

final minute.

“Once again, I’m very proud of how our guys hung in there,” a dejected

Vanguard Coach Stephen French said afterward. “It seems like we’re just

not getting the bounces to fall our way. But this is a team of character

and we’re going to battle right down the end.”

Senior Dennis Keane led the Lions (4-14, 0-7 in conference) with 24

points and five steals, while sophomore Kemmy Burgess chipped in 20

points and five rebounds.

The Eagles (15-2, 5-2), ranked No. 5 in the NAIA national polls, were

led by Nate Strong’s 25-point, 14-rebound performance. Center Abiodun

Medupin added 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“I’m just happy we got out of here with a win,” a relieved Biola Coach

Dr. Dave Holmquist said. “Vanguard is a very scrappy team that is very

well coached. I think we might have wore them down late in the game. When

you scrap like they do, it spends a lot of energy. I knew they were a

better team than their record showed.”

After falling behind, 17-11, the Lions completely took the game over,

outscoring the bigger and stronger Eagles, 30-8. Keane scored 15 of his

24 points in that outburst, giving Vanguard a 41-25 lead late in the

first half.

Just when it seemed that the Lions were going to bury the Eagles on

their own home floor, Biola woke up and pulled itself off the mat.

A 7-0 run, including a buzzer-beating slam dunk from Terrance Richmond

(12 points) cut the Lions’ lead to 41-32 and gave the Eagles the momentum

heading into the second half.

That momentum turned into an avalanche of Biola points. An 11-0 run,

sparked by strong play from, who else, Strong, helped the Eagles

completely erase the 16-point deficit and pushed Biola back into the

lead.

The Lions finally succumbed to their lack of height and were

outrebounded, 29-8, in the second half, including a 12-4 deficit on the

offensive glass. “The boards absolutely killed us in the second half,”

French said.

Despite the rebounding dominance by the Eagles, despite the 43-16

Eagles’ run and despite playing in front of a frenzied Eagle-heavy crowd,

the Lions refused to quit.

Trailing, 68-59, with two minutes left, Vanguard threw one last push

at Biola. A Keane jumper and a Burgess trey made it, 68-62, with 1:15

remaining.

Following two Biola free throws, Burgess hit another trey with 38

seconds left, cutting the deficit to 70-65.

Biola added another free throw before Garid Beeler (eight points)

drained a three-pointer with 15 seconds left, bringing the Lions to

within three.

With Vanguard swarming the atempted in-bounds pass, the flustered

Eagles called a timeout with no timeouts remaining, resulting in a

technical foul. Keane hit the free throw and the lead was cut to two.

Biola added another point from the charity stripe for a three-point

advantage and then fouled Beeler with 10 seconds left to keep the Lions

from tying the game with a three-pointer. Despite the screaming masses,

Beeler hit the two free throws.

The Lions again fouled to stop the clock and when only one Biola free

throw was made, Vanguard had one final opportunity to pull off one of the

biggest upsets of the year in the NAIA.

The Lions’ final shot did not fall, however, and Biola escaped by the

skin of its teeth.

GOLDEN STATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Biola 73, Vanguard 71

Vanguard - Keane 24, Burgess 20, Cablay 10, Beeler 8, Boys 6, Curtis

2, Candelaria 1.

3 pt. goals - Burgess 4, Beeler 2, Cablay 2, Keane 1.

Fouled out - Boys.

Technical fouls - none.

Biola - Strong 23, Medupin 14, Thrash 13, Richmond 12, Rios 5, Weakley

4, Heyer 2.

3 pt. goals - Strong 2, Weakley 1, Richmond 1.

Fouled out - Thrash.

Technical fouls - none.

Halftime - Vanguard, 41-32.