Westmont Men's Basketball (21-10) took top-seeded and third ranked Biola (28-3) to overtime before falling to the Eagles 75-66 in the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship.

"I thought we played a great tournament and we played to win," said Westmont head coach John Moore. "We had a very good defensive tournament. Both second halves, when the game is on the line, we played as a hardnosed, smart, unselfish team."

The loss means that the Warriors will have to wait until Wednesday, March 9 to learn if they will receive an at-large invitation to the 79th Annual NAIA Men's Basketball Division I Championship in Kansas City.

Based on results in NAIA conference tournaments to date and an examination of the most recent ratings, the Westmont Sports Information Office expects such an invitation to be forthcoming. The final ratings, however, which will be used to determine the at-large qualifiers, will not be announced until March 9.

In Saturday's semifinal game, Biola jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes of play. However, a three-pointer by Cory Blau sparked a 14-2 Warrior run to put Westmont ahead. The first half was characterized by back-and-forth runs. Biola rallied with a 20-4 run to go up 30-18, but Westmont roared back with a 9-0 run to pull within three points (30-27) with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

Biola held the Warriors scoreless in the remainder of the opening frame and added three points to go into the locker room with a 33-27 advantage.

After play resumed, Biola pressed their advantage to 11 points on two occasions, but with seven and one-half minutes showing on the clock, Olisa Nwachie's layup pulled the Warriors to within one point (46-45).

A three pointer by Biola's Blake Shannon restored Biola's lead to four (49-45), but Sean Harman answered in kind to make it a 49-48 game with 6:07 to play.

A minute and one-half later, a layup by the Eagles' Terrell Funches put Biola on top 51-48. However, a layup by Hayden Anderson and a brilliant tip-in by Sean McDonnell off a missed Warrior rebound put Westmont on top 52-51 with 2:54 left in regulation.

Ten seconds later, Funches scored on a layup, but Williams answered back immediately to give Westmont a 54-53 advantage with 2:29 to play. The score remained the same until Shannon scored on a jumper with six second remaining, putting Biola in front 55-54.

The Warriors quickly brought the ball up court and called time out. The subsequent inbound play put the ball in the hands of Blau. The junior guard fired off a shot from just inside the three-point line, which missed. The horn sounded, but so did an official's whistle – the result of a foul called on Funches.

After the officials conferred, 0.3 seconds was put on the clock and Blau was awarded two free throws. He made the first tying the game at 55. His second shot bounced off the front of the rim and the game went into overtime.

Biola scored first in the overtime period on a tip-in by Jeff Gonzalez off his own miss. McDonnell responded with a layup to tie the game at 57. Caelan Tiongson scored to put Biola up 59-57 and gain a lead which the Eagles did not relinquish again.

The Warriors trailed by just two after Bentz scored to make it 63-61 with 1:05 to play, but Shannon hit a three and Dakari Archer, the GSAC Player of the Year, scored on a layup to put Biola on top 68-61 with 43 seconds remaining. Westmont would get no closer than four points the rest of the way.

Sean McDonnell led all Warriors with 18 points and six rebounds. Sean Harmon and Britton Williams both contributed 11 points with Williams adding four rebounds, five assists and five steals while committing just one turnover.

"I thought Brit had his best game in a long time," said Moore, "and Sean McDonnell made some clutch shots for us."

Biola advances to take on Hope International in the championship game on Tuesday night. Like all GSAC Tournament games this year, the championship will be held at Hope International. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.