This Game Rivals Anything Around

They are small universities with small-college athletic programs that don’t aspire to be anything more than what they already are: Quiet liberal arts colleges that revel in their familial atmospheres and their commitments to Christian learning environments.

Tranquil is a word that describes both colleges, Azusa Pacific, enrollment 6,800, and Biola (originally the Bible Institute of Los Angeles), enrollment 3,500.

Unless, of course, you happen to be on campus on the days just before The Game.

Then the rumblings cut through the libraries, weave through the classrooms and eventually surround the grounds. Discussions of physics and philosophy give way to discussions on what chant will be the most annoying to the opponent.

“No matter where you go, the conversation is about the game,” said Steve McIlwain, a senior guard for Azusa Pacific. “I honestly don’t think there is anyone at school that isn’t talking about the game.”

That might be an overstatement. But probably not by much.

The latest chapter in this storied rivalry had another fantastic finish Tuesday night as Biola, the top-ranked team in NAIA, escaped with a 62-61 Golden State Athletic Conference victory in front a record crowd of 2,927 at Azusa Pacific’s Felix Event Center.

Biola senior Bryan Weakley provided the decisive points with a three-point basket with 11.6 seconds remaining.

“That’s how it’s always been,” said Weakley, who had 16 points. “I knew it was going to come down to the end no matter what the score is.”

Biola (24-2, 15-2) moved 21/2 games ahead of eighth-ranked Azusa (20-5, 12-4) with three games left. Azusa has won the last nine conference championships.

The close game was typical of a rivalry that’s grown hotter through the years since it started in 1966. Azusa has dominated in some stretches, Biola in others.

Yet Tuesday’s game broke a series tie. In 78 previous meetings, each team had won 39 times.

As in any entrenched rivalry, there have been blowouts, buzzer-beating shots, wild comebacks and controversy.

During its 39-1 season in 1982, Biola escaped with a one-point victory and an overtime victory over the Cougars. The Eagles remained undefeated until losing the NAIA national championship game.

In a wild 1993 game, the Eagles defeated then No. 1-ranked Azusa, 63-62, when Cougar guard Ronnie Winbush couldn’t get off a shot before the final buzzer sounded. Azusa coaches vehemently protested, claiming Biola game officials started the clock when the ball was inbounded and not when it was touched. Police were called in to quell a skirmish between Biola and Azusa supporters.

In 1999, with both teams ranked in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) top 10, Azusa rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit to post a 73-68 victory at Biola, then used a 22-5 game-ending rally to win 69-61 at home.

Last season, Biola dealt Azusa its only loss in the Cougars’ two-year-old, $14-million arena. The 78-67 defeat was the only one suffered by the Cougars in conference. Azusa avenged the defeat with victories over the Eagles at Biola and in the conference tournament title game.

In the first meeting this year, Azusa Pacific nearly made up a 12-point deficit in the final 1 minute 52 seconds before succumbing, 85-83, in a packed gym at Biola on Jan. 8 in La Mirada.

Kevin Augustine, who played for USC and Nebraska before transferring to Biola, experienced the intensity of rivalry for the first time in that game. The experience confirmed everything he had been told.

“I had no idea about Biola or Azusa Pacific or any of this leading up to the first game,” Augustine said. “I had heard so much around school and the buzz kind of introduced me to the rivalry.

“It kind of reminded me of USC and UCLA on a lower stage. But it some ways, it’s a lot bigger.”

At large universities like USC or UCLA, there are segments of the student body that have little interest for college basketball. With these small schools, “the students get heated almost to a personal level,” McIlwain said.

Azusa Coach Bill Odell said the importance of the game is magnified because students on both campuses know each other and often attend the same churches. That is, if they aren’t members of the same family.

“I cannot imagine the USC-UCLA rivalry being any greater than ours,” Odell said. “Because the players change so much, I don’t think there’s as much passion felt as there are between the students. You’ve got families where one goes to Azusa Pacific and another family member goes to Biola. We often compete for the same students, with both being Christian universities.”

The feelings run deep enough that when Biola lost to Cal Baptist on Feb. 5, the result was met with a resounding cheer when it was announced at Azusa Pacific’s home game against Christian Heritage.

The perennial success of both teams only fuels the rivalry. The two are often ranked among the nation’s top NAIA teams.

Dave Holmquist, 50, in his 22nd season at Biola, recently became the youngest collegiate coach to win 600 games. Odell, 59, a former high school coach at Covina Northview and Long Beach Millikan, has won 299 games in 11 seasons at Azusa.

“It emphasizes why you coach and why you play,” Holmquist said. “I always find it to be real exciting. On game day you’re tense and you never know what will happen. I think anyone who loves to coach loves to be in games like this.”