NAIA Basketball Tournament : Biola Loses Again in First Round, 61-58

Biola squandered a seven-point lead in the final four minutes and was beaten by College of Idaho, 61-58, Wednesday night in the first round of the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics basketball tournament before a crowd of 6,039 at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City.

It was the third time since 1985 that Biola had been eliminated in the first round of the NAIA tournament.

College of Idaho built a 36-30 lead with 16:39 remaining, but Biola rallied to take a 48-43 lead with 8:19 to play, then increased it to 54-47 with 4:20 remaining.

But the game fell apart for the Eagles, who were hampered by turnovers, missed free throws and an offensive foul called against David Hardin in the closing minutes.

The Coyotes regained the lead, 57-55, but Biola took its final lead, 58-57, with 38 seconds remaining on free throws by Eric Nielsen and Kevin Hood.

College of Idaho scored the final four points on a basket by Dean Morrison and two free throws to seal the victory and send Biola home early again.

Hood collected 19 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, while Andres Santamaria scored 15 points and Andrew Jackson added 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for College of Idaho.

Biola managed to make just 39% of its shots; College of Idaho made 49%

College of Idaho (23-8) will play Western Montana, which upset top-seeded Grand Canyon, 79-65, earlier in the tournament.

Biola finished the season at 29-8.