Box Score
Kansas City, MO-Biola University set the tone at the opening tipoff scoring the first 13 points of the game in a 66-54 victory over Belhaven in the first round of the 2010 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at Municipal Auditorium Wednesday night in downtown Kansas City. The Blazers fought back to take the lead at 45-44 late in the second half, but Biola regained the advantage and never relinquished the lead the rest of the night.

Biola (28-5) raced to the 13-0 lead four minutes into the game which included triples by Danny Campbell and Marlon King to get the Eagles rolling. Nathaniel Roche' ended Belhaven's scoring drought on a layup with 15:31 to play in the first half. Trailing 19-6, the Blazers went on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to seven points at 21-14 with 8:29 remaining in the opening period. Woodie Howard got the run started with a two point field goal and Bobby Grier capped it with a long distance three point basket. However, Biola quickly recovered and eventually took a 35-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Krayleon Winston scored the first three points of the second half on a triple that brought the Eagles lead back to single digits at 35-28. The Blazers continued to chip away at the deficit and got to within one at 40-39 with 14:10 left in the game. Behind 40-30, Belhaven (24-10) engineered a 9-0 run that culminated in a layup by Roche'. Over the next seven minutes, Biola would not own a lead of over three minutes as the Blazers began to slow down the Eagles attack. With 6:33 to play, Belhaven took their only lead of the game on a fast break basket by Grier that put Belhaven up 45-44.

Unfortunately, the Eagles had an answer as they went on a 12-2 run which led to a 56-47 edge with only 1:38 remaining in the contest. That run by Biola was the turning point in the game and seized the momentum away from Belhaven. The Eagles closed out the game by outscoring the Blazers 22-9 over the final 6:33.

Belhaven was led on offense by senior Larell Bailey with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the field. Rob Wallace finished with eight points while Winston and Roche' each added seven points. Roche' pulled down 11 rebounds and had three more blocked shots giving him 46 for the season.

As a team, Belhaven struggled from the field hitting only 34.4 percent of their shots. Biola did a nice job of forcing the Blazers into a half court game and thus Belhaven had to settle for mainly jump shots. The Blazers connected on 21.1 percent of their triple tries and converted 72.7 percent of their free throws. The Eagles had the edge on the boards at 50-42 and forced 18 Belhaven turnovers.

Biola had a big night from Danny Campbell who scored a game high 18 points. Rocky Hampton followed with 12 points and blocked seven Belhaven shots. Nate Rakestraw led the Eagles in rebounding with 10 in the game. The Eagles played their style of game which certainly was a key in their victory. As a team, Biola made 34.0 percent of their field goals, 14.3 percent of their attempts from behind the arc, and 66.7 percent of their free throws. The Eagles made 28 of their 42 total attempts from the charity stripe on Wednesday night.

Biola will move on to the round of 16 on Friday when they face Park University at 6:15 PM. The loss ends Belhaven's season, but it was the best in school history in terms of total wins at 24 and the team made the national tournament for the first time since 1972. The official NAIA game recap can be viewed by clicking here.