College Division / Mitch Polin : Biola Puts Its Record on the Line Tonight

It has been a pretty good decade for men’s basketball at Biola University in La Mirada.

In nine years under Coach Dave Holmquist, the Eagles have gone 224-34 with five National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District III titles and have won at least 25 games in eight of those seasons.

And this season it has been business as usual.

The Eagles, 26-3 and ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, are the top-seeded team in the District III playoffs entering its first-round game against visiting Fresno Pacific (7-22) at 7:30 tonight.

Biola, which has only one player taller than 6 feet 5 inches, usually stands above the rest of the teams in the district nonetheless.

“We don’t have a lot of depth at guard and we’re not a big team, but we are a very competitive group and seem to find a way to win,” Holmquist said. “I think this team compares well to any team we have had.”

With its record, it would be easy for Biola to take its success for granted. But Holmquist doesn’t want to let that happen.

“I think the nature of coaching keeps you humble,” he says. “You’re always one injury or two away from being an average team. We could also not get one or two of our recruits, and it could change things. It’s the same thing I tell the team. You can’t relax or you’ll get beat, and it’s true of coaching, too.”

While the Eagles have appeared strong as usual this season, Holmquist says things have not exactly been injury free.

“We’ve had more chronic injuries than we’ve had in the past, but it hasn’t kept them out of games except for (Paul) Horn,” he said.

Horn, a 6-7 center who is the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder at 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds, has missed two weeks of practice because of a fractured vertebra but has still played in most of the team’s games.

Biola had the best start of any lower-division team in the Southland, 17-0 before losing to Occidental, 66-56, Jan. 13 with its guards hobbling with injuries and Horn missing because of his father’s death.

Holmquist admits the team was probably playing at its best before the start of district play, when it defeated four California Collegiate Athletic Assn. teams and National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division I opponent Northern Arizona, 88-63.

One player who has excelled for the Eagles all season is 6-5 senior forward Johnny Griffin, an NAIA All-American and two-time All-District III performer who has averaged 20.9 points and 7.7 rebounds.

“I think he’s the best player in the district,” Holmquist said. “So when you have a player of his caliber, it’s a big factor. He’s been our best player for the last two years. It’s hard to imagine a player doing anything more for us.”

With Griffin leading the way, Biola went into the NAIA national tournament with a 29-1 record last season only to lose its first-round game. Holmquist said he is hoping for a different ending this year but is more concerned about the district tournament at the moment.

“I think that our goal has been to win the district championship,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve thought too much beyond that. I know as a coach I haven’t. But if we are to get back to the national tournament, we would like to go further.”

While Biola is the clear-cut favorite in the district tournament, the Eagles could have trouble with Westmont. The Warriors (20-8), who won the Golden State Athletic Conference, handed Biola one of its three defeats, 58-56 on Feb. 13, and have a nine-game win streak.

If things go as expected, the teams will meet for the district title next Tuesday at Whittier College.

While Biola has been the dominant team in the NAIA District III in men’s basketball, Cal Poly Pomona has been the power in CCAA women’s basketball.

So it is not surprising that the Broncos are the overwhelming favorite to win their third straight conference tournament title this week in Bakersfield.

Pomona, ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division II at 24-3, concluded a 12-0 CCAA season for its seventh consecutive regular-season conference title last week.

The Broncos face fourth-place Chapman (14-11, 5-7) in their tournament opener at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Bakersfield Civic Auditorium after second-seeded Cal State Northridge (14-12, 8-4) meets Cal State Los Angeles (14-12, 6-6) at 6.

The situation is much different heading into the CCAA men’s tournament. Cal State Bakersfield is the top-seeded team, but the Roadrunners figure to receive strong competition from either UC Riverside or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

In first-round games Friday, second-seeded Riverside (21-6, 10-4) meets San Luis Obispo (16-9, 9-5) at 6 p.m., and Bakersfield (18-9, 10-4) faces Cal State Northridge (15-11, 7-7) at 8:30.