HONOLULU – The Hawai'i Pacific University men faltered down the stretch as Biola held off a comeback attempt for a 65-56 PacWest Conference win on Saturday afternoon at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
 
The Sharks (5-14, 2-12) fell for the third straight contest, while the Eagles (11-9, 7-7) got back into the win column.
 
HPU had an early second half lead before Biola went on an 8-0 run to regain a lead they would never relinquish.
 
The Sharks leading scorers came off the bench as sophomore David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark led the way with 13 points alongside four rebounds, while sophomore Tavon Tarpley of McLain, Va./Langley pulled in 12 points and four boards. Junior Neema Namdar of Sandy, Utah/Alta added nine points and junior Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove grabbed six rebounds with eight points.
 
The balanced Eagle attack was led by Trevor Treinen with 12 points. Alex Talma double-doubled with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and was joined by Christian Carroll with 11 points. Alex Wright produced 10 points with four steals, with Levi Auble added 10 points as well.
 
HPU shot 38 percent (21-of-55) from the floor, and 21 percent (5-of-24) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks made 9-of-11 (82 percent) from the free throw line. Biola connected on 46 percent (23-of-50) of its shots from the field, including 33 percent (5-of-15) from the arc. The Eagles hit 14-of-18 (78 percent) from the charity stripe. The Eagles outrebounded HPU 35-30, and turned the ball over 10 times to the Sharks 14.
 
The first half went back and forth with both teams getting a four-point lead only to have the other counter for the lead. There were four ties and five lead changes in the first half with Rowlands creating a tie and giving HPU the halftime lead with a pair of free throws with 28 seconds to play before intermission. HPU took the 24-23 lead to the dressing room.
 
The Sharks went up by three twice to start the second half on a layup by senior Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain State and a 3-pointer by Namdar, both times answered by the Eagles to tie or take an advantage. Down one, Tarpley drove the baseline for a layup to give HPU a 31-30 lead with 16:48 to play, but Biola's Michael Bagatourian answered the shot with a layup to start the 8-0 that the Eagles used to take control of the game.
 
The Sharks got as close as four midway through the half after another Tarpley layup, but another 10-2 run by the Eagles gave Biola its largest lead with 8:39 to go on a Treinen jumper. HPU fought back to get within six with under a minute to play, but Alex Wright hit 3-of-4 free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the 65-56 win.
 
HPU is back in action on Monday when the Sharks play host to cross-town rival Chaminade at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center. It's Kam's Helmets Night and free skateboard, bicycle and moped helmets will be given away in honor of former HPU basketball player Kameron Steinhoff who died from head injuries in a skateboarding accident eight years ago. The game tips at 6:30 p.m., following the HPU-CUH women's game at 4:30 p.m.