LA MIRADA, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University closed strong late, but couldn't overcome homestanding Biola 74-62 in PacWest Conference action at Chase Gym Monday night.
 
The Sharks (3-13, 0-9) held an early lead before the Eagles (13-4, 7-3) grabbed the advantage and held on to take the lead in the PacWest standings.
 
Senior Rodney Hounshell of Richmond, Va./West Linn (Ore.) led the Sharks with 13 points, while junior Trey Chapman of Healdsburg, Calif./Healdsburg scored 11 points with a team-high five rebounds and  junior Colton Martin of Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound also added 11 points. Freshman Max Topham of Paragonah, Utah/Real Salt Lake Academy added nine points with five boards.
 
The Eagles got 23 points and six assists from Chris Rossow and 21 points from Jesse Elrod. Michael Bagatourian and Alex Wright both scored 11 points, with Maximo Milovich leading the Eagles with eight rebounds.
 
The Sharks shot 22-of-63 (35 percent) from the floor, including 7-of-25 (28 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU converted 11-of-15 shots (73 percent) from the foul line. The Eagles hit 51 percent (29-of-57) from the field, including an outstanding 10-of-13 (77 percent) from the arc. BU made 6-of-10 (60 percent) from the charity stripe. Biola bettered HPU 43-30 in rebounding, but the Sharks turned the ball over just eight times to the Eagles 11.
 
HPU jumped out to an early lead and built it to four points on a 3-pointer by senior Domantas Sakickas of Lithuania with 15:33 to play in the opening half. The Eagles used a 7-0 run to grab the lead then swapped scores with HPU. BU followed with an 8-0 run to take the momentum swing. The Eagles held a 33-25 advantage at the half.
 
Biola came out with an 11-2 run to start the second half, capped by a jumper by Elrod for a 17-point lead with 17:19 remaining. HPU chipped back, closing the gap to seven on a Martin field goal with 7:35 to play. But that would be as close as the Sharks could get as the Eagles pushed back for the 74-62 final.
 
HPU is in action for its third game in the southern California swing on Thursday when the Sharks visit the Felix Event Center to take on Azusa Pacific. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. HST (7:30 p.m. PST).