By Alex Franco

Sports Editor

The CSUSM men’s basketball team hosted their first home game of the season with a bang on Wednesday Nov. 14, when they took on BIOLA University in front a strong Cougar fan base at Mira Costa College.

The No. 20-ranked Cougars looked to improve and keep their two-game winning streak alive against the No. 13 BIOLA Eagles, who entered the night’s contest undefeated. The Cougars got off to a blazing start opening the game to a 15 point lead over the Eagles. BIOLA wouldn’t fold easily to the CSUSM offensive onslaught as the Eagles fought back to erase the early deficit and bring themselves within four points late into the first half.

With the half coming to a close, the Cougars opened up the lead again, thanks largely in part to Jose Rivera, who hit a team high four three-point shots. The Cougars took a 42-35 lead into halftime, a lead they wouldn’t give up for the rest of the game.

The Eagles came within two points of the Cougars midway through the second half but CSUSM would respond building the lead back up to nine. With time dwindling away late in the game, BIOLA charged at the Cougars, pulling with four with a few minutes left in the game.

Ali Langford’s late intentional free throws solidified the win for CSUSM, beating BIOLA 85-78 and handing the Eagles their first loss of the season. CSUSM improved to 3-1 on the season and will look to move up in the national rankings after their second impressive win over a high-ranked opponent.

Langford led the way with a game high 27 points and eight rebounds to pace the Cougars offense throughout the game. Rivera contributed 20 points of his own, sparking the offense when it appeared to have slowed down hitting clutch three-pointers.

Just two days later, On Friday Nov 16,  the Cougars faced off against Vanguard University and extended their winning streak to four with a 85 – 69 victory.

After trailing by 9 in the opening minutes of the first half, the Cougars were able to use a 20 – 4 run in over a seven minute time frame to take ta 41-33 lead with a minute and 22 seconds left in the half.

Jacob Ranger, Quincy Lawson and Hakeem Washington were the teams leading scores with Ranger scoring 18 points and both Lawson and Washington scoring 17.

*Due to our publication schedule, we were unable to publish the results of the 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20 home game against San Diego Christian. We apologize for any inconvenience.