DATE: March 8, 2016
TIME: 8:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Darling Pavilion (Hope International University)



 
TICKETS:
General Bleacher - $10
Seat Back - $15
Student – FREE (Show your Biola Student ID at the Biola tent to get a voucher for a free ticket courtesy SPA and Biola Athletics)
**Wear red as we attempt to flood the HIU facility with some Biola Spirit.
 
PARKING:
Fan parking will be available in the parking structure lot, located on the south side of the campus.  The lot is Lot 3C on the sixth and seventh floor.
 
MEDIA:
TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket (check local listings)
LIVE STATS: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/hiu/
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE: The Golden State Athletic Conference tournament championship and the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NAIA National Championship.
 
THE MATCHUP:  Biola comes into the night ranked No. 3 in the nation, while the host institution, Hope International, sits at seventh in the NAIA. The two teams met twice during the 2015-16 regular season and each team won its home contest. Both games were low-scoring affairs as each team is built with a strong defensive backbone. The Eagles bring the nation's No. 1 defense into the night (allowing just 59.8 points-per-game), while the Royals rank No. 2 in the NAIA (62.3ppg). The two teams were the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the conference tournament and have run the course to meet in the final. The Eagles earned the No. 1 seed by beating the Royals on Jan. 27 to wrap up Biola's first Golden State Athletic Conference Championship since 2001-02.
 
Both teams feature two all-conference players in their starting five. The Eagles also have the GSAC Player of the Year in Dakari Archer, while the Royals feature the conference's defensive player of the year, Garrett Neilan. Biola earned its spot in the finals with a 75-66 overtime win over Westmont this past Saturday night. Earlier that evening Hope International defeated Vanguard by 20 points to clinch a spot in the tournament championship for the third-consecutive season. Hope International won last season's tournament championship. Biola's last tournament championship win was 2011-12. Whichever team wins earns an automatic berth at the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Kansas City, but the other team will still receive an at-large invitation to the tournament from the national office.