SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball fell behind in the final four minutes in a 60-50 loss to Biola University Thursday night at Chase Gymnasium. 

Sophomore forward Christian Futch led the Penguins (8-19, 4-17 PacWest) in the low scoring affair on both ends of the court with 14 points on 7-for-12 shooting, seven rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Sophomore guard Christopher Williams II knocked down four 3-pointers on his way to 12 points, two rebounds and two steals. The Eagles (15-12, 11-10 PacWest) held Dominican to 36.2 percent shooting for the night with a stingy defense.

Michael Bagatourian had a monster night for Biola with a team-high 17 points, while going 6-of-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Trevor Treinen chipped in 11 points and six rebounds, while Alex Talma came through in the clutch with four blocks to help the Eagles sustain their late lead.

Dominican and Biola held each other in check for most of the first half, but Biola was able to build a small lead when Christian Carroll came in off the bench and sank a 3-pointer to give it the 17-11 lead with 13:20 left in the half. Dominican answered quickly highlighted by a fastbreak layup for Jordan Williams in transition to help the Penguins cut the deficit to one. 

After both teams went cold for the next three minutes, Sam Averbuck gave the Penguins a spark with a 3-pointer to tie the game and Thomas fought for an offensive rebound and putback to give Dominican their first lead of the night at 21-19 with 6:50 until the break. Both teams traded field goals in the closing minutes of the half and Futch grabbed an offensive board and laid it in at the buzzer to send the teams to the locker rooms even at 28.

Futch picked up where he left off, backing down his defender for a hook shot and Cedric Thomas capitalized on a Biola turnover with a 3-pointer to extend the Penguins' lead to 33-28 within the first minute of the half. Bagatourian  quickly erased the deficit for the Eagles with a jumper and a 3-pointer to tie the game and force Dominican to call a timeout with 16:32 remaining. Talma grabbed an offensive board and the ball found its way back to Bagatourian once again for an open shot behind the arc to give the Eagles back a three-point lead one minute later.

Dominican was able to stay within one possession for the next five minutes, but they were unable to get the defensive stops needed to take back the lead. Bagatourian hit another shot from behind the arc before converting an old-fashioned 3-point play to give Biola the 46-39 lead at the midway point of the half. 

Williams II stole the ball away and Jared Harper followed with a 3-pointer to cut the lead back to three with 6:39 remaining, but Biola seized back the momentum when Alex Wright sparked a run with an answer from distance. Talma blocked a shot a few minutes later and Wright connected again on a 3-pointer to cap the 8-0 run and give the Eagles a 58-47 lead with 4:25 remaining. Biola slowed the game down from there and limited the number of possessions to shut down any attempted comeback.

The Penguins will finish off the 2018-2019 season against Azusa Pacific University on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PST. Live video and stats will be available online.