LA MIRADA, Calif. – Nate Kendricks led the Fresno Pacific University men's basketball team with a career-high 25 points, but it wasn't enough as the Sunbirds suffered their first loss of the season to Biola 84-76 in a high-scoring match-up on Thursday night.
  
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"I thought we had some really good stretches offensively tonight. Great two-way performance from Kendricks, and solid contributions off the bench from D.J. Searcy and Marten Maide. We couldn't find an answer consistently on defense and shot it poorly from deep. Ultimately, to win on the road in southern California you have to put together a really complete performance, and tonight a couple of stretches where we lost focus really make the difference."." head coach C.J. Haydock.
   
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Sunbirds and Eagles traded points early, as Darrin Person Jr. hit a layup to put his team up 12-11 a little over five minutes into the game. 
• BU used a 13-5 run that lasted 8:35 during the middle of the first half to go up 24-17.
• The Birds erased the lead, as Ryan Abbott grabbed a steal that led to a dunk that tied the game at 30 with 2:16 to go in the first half. 
• The Eagles closed out the first half with back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 40-34 at halftime. 
• Biola opened the second half strong, expanding their lead to 14 after the first 4:30 of the second half. 
• Person Jr. banked in a layup with 11:15 to play, as FPU trailed 60-54. 
• The Sunbirds hung close, but the Eagles maintained their lead down the stretch to take the game 84-76. 

STATS FROM THE GAME

• Kendricks led the Sunbirds with 25 points on a 10-for-19 shooting performance.
• Jelani Watson-Gayle was solid, scoring 18 points while grabbing five rebounds and three assists.
• FPU's bench scored 23 points, as Searcy, Maide, and Person scored seven points each. 
• The Birds attacked the rim, scoring 52 points in the paint. 
• As a team, the Blue and Orange shot just 20.7 percent (6-for-29) from 3-point range for the game. 

UP NEXT

• FPU is on the road and takes on Azusa Pacific on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. 

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