Biola Boxes Up DeLaveaga, CLU

As a senior at California High in San Ramon, he saw it all the time. But Jeff deLaveaga of Cal Lutheran was caught off guard when Biola threw the box-and-one defense at him Tuesday night with 12 minutes left in an NAIA District 3 game at Chase Gym in La Mirada.

The Kingsmen held a five-point lead when Biola pulled its defensive switch, but when the game ended, they were on the short end of a 78-72 score.

“We played well for about 30 minutes,” deLaveaga said. “But then they started to dominate the boards and we started to get a little frustrated. . . . I know I did. I got a little impatient and started to force some shots when they went to the box-and-one.

“I haven’t seen a whole lot of that in college but they used to play that way against me in high school.”

In the box-and-one, one man--in this case Biola guard Kellie McKinney--is assigned to play man-to-man defense against the designated player (deLaveaga) while the rest of the team plays a zone.

And the Eagles worked the defense to near perfection.

DeLaveaga scored 26 points in the first 28 minutes of the game, but Biola (8-17, 5-7 in District 3 play) held him to three points in the final 12 minutes to snap a six-game losing streak.

“We had to do something,” Biola Coach Howard Lyon said. “The guy was just killing us.”

Leading by four points at halftime, Cal Lutheran (5-17, 3-4) started the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 43-32 lead with 16 minutes 38 seconds left.

Biola, however, retaliated with a 21-10 run in the next 7:10 to tie the score, 53-53, with 9:28 remaining.

Jeff Baker, the Eagles’ 6-foot-9 sophomore center, scored 10 of his team-high 27 points (11 rebounds) during the stretch.

Cal Lutheran briefly regained the lead on a pair of Mike Demeter free throws, but a three-point basket by Jimmy Hill (24 points) with 8:03 remaining gave Biola a 56-55 lead, and the Eagles never again trailed.

“They sent three guys hard to the boards in the second half,” deLaveaga said. “And that was the difference. They had some key rebound baskets after missed shots that really hurt us.”

With deLaveaga bottled up by Biola’s defense, Demeter took over for the Cal Lutheran offense and scored 12 of his 20 points in the final six minutes, but they weren’t enough.