The Clause

Rivalries are things that fans feed off of. They carry fans to support their team passionately, they bring out the wild side in some fans and they raise the intensity of what would normally be just another regular season game.

 

APU’s rivalry with Biola is always a topic floating around campus and has been around for almost 20 years now.

 

Biola entered the GSAC in 1994 and just a couple of years after that in 1996, the Eagles began to give the Cougars some competition for the title that they had been defending since 1993.

 

However, despite the competition that Biola gave APU, the Cougars won the GSAC Championship from 1996-2001, making it nine straight championship titles for the Cougars. The team to end their streak was Biola.

 

This is what started it all. The many heated battles that the two teams had for that top spot in the conference built a rivalry that has been as competitive as any other and has built a significance for the school as a whole.

 

Justin Leslie, head coach of the APU men’s basketball team, feels that the rivalry is good for both schools.

 

“It’s all in good fun; it’s a friendly rivalry,” Leslie said. “A lot of rivalries with different schools across the country could be kind of nasty or just downright dirty in spots. This is the farthest from that as possible. I think it’s a very healthy and positive rivalry that brings out the best in both schools.”

 

There have been many moments to remember in this rivalry that have definitely been “all in good fun” to say the least. Here are a five of APU’s most memorable games.:

 

5. On Feb. 20, 1970, the Cougars hosted the game at the Cougar Dome against the Eagles and dominated all game. However, what made this game memorable was the fact that APU outscored Biola 92-39 in the second half to result in a 138-73 victory for the Cougars.

 

4. On Feb. 12, 2002, in front of a GSAC record crowd of 2,927, the Cougars hosted what turned out to be a thriller. The Eagles were up by 21 with 12 minutes to play and the Cougars rallied back to take a one-point lead. After four lead changes in the final two minutes, with 11.6 seconds left, Biola’s Bryan Weakley hit the game-winning three to end it.

 

3. This senior night on Feb. 20, 1999 was actually led by two juniors. Leslie scored a game-high 23 points who hit some key shots alongside Jerome Joseph. APU was down 56-47 with 9:02 to play when Joseph hit two three-pointers, which gave the Cougars the lead for the rest of the game.

 

Former APU coach Bill Odell said “in eight years, that is the loudest I have ever heard that crowd.”

 

2. The Cougars visited Biola on Feb. 1, 2001 and kept it close in the first half. During the second half, there were 15 lead changes and eight ties in total. Biola’s Nate Strong had quite a strong game with a game-high 29 points, but was blocked by APU’s Anthony Haggins when he attempted the game-tying shot with 15 seconds left in the game.

 

Leslie, who was the Cougars’ center at the time, said “The way they acted at our place in the game last month, there is nothing sweeter than this. It is so much fun to be a part of this.”

 

1. The game that is considered the best game in APU-Biola history was on Jan. 26, 1999 at Biola. APU came back from a 31-11 deficit in the first half but four minutes into the second half, Cougars’ All-American point guard T.J. Walker got injured after taking the lead 42-41. Walker’s injury sparked Jerome Joseph to take over and score 15 of his game-high 22 points. The Cougars held their ground and when it was tied at 63 with 3:31 left, APU’s Corey Smith hit a three that sealed the deal.

 

Senior guard Marshall Johnson expressed that he is also aware of the importance of the rivalry to this school.

 

“It brings a lot of revenue for both schools and thousands of people come out every year no matter what the teams are looking like,” Johnson said. “So I’d say it’s pretty important.”

 

“I just laugh to myself because it’s really just another game,” Johnson said. “But because of the history of these games, they mean a lot.”

 

The students have definitely displayed how much this rivalry means to them. In the past, there have been several pranks performed against each other just to keep the competitiveness at a high level.

 

One of the more well-known pranks occurred in 2002 when a few APU students snuck onto the premises of Biola before break, measured their Jesus mural, made a giant Blackout shirt for it, came back the night before APU played Biola and put a Blackout T-shirt on the mural.

 

Another one of the pranks occurred in 2007 during the game at Biola. An APU student dressed up as Biola’s Eagle mascot and during one of the time outs of the game, he tore off his Biola T-shirt to reveal a Blackout T-shirt right under that. Afterwards, the “Double Eagle” as some called it, remained with APU’s cheerleaders and cheered on the Cougars to a 71-70 victory.

 

While this rivalry has proven to maintain great significance for both the team as a whole and the students, Leslie feels that this rivalry is especially good for the players themselves and helping them to progress.

 

“We have [faced] double-figure deficits only to come back and rally and there’s usually someone who steps up,” Leslie said.

 

“You see how that can build confidence and propel that student athlete to a greater success down the line; because they stepped up at that moment against Biola.”

 

Leslie knows this especially because he has experienced one of those said situations that propelled himself to greater success.

 

“I look back to the fall of ‘99, which was my first 20-point game in a GSAC game, and it was against Biola in a home win,” Leslie said. “It went a long way in propelling my career and giving me confidence to go on and play.”

 

Another key example of someone stepping up to get the win against Biola would be the game that Jerome Joseph led the game in scoring after T.J. Walker got injured. Joseph took advantage of his time to shine, and it propelled him to greater success down the line.

 

The players that take the court experience the intensity of the rivalry firsthand. Johnson feels that factor of higher intensity, but he feels more pumped because of the fans.

 

“It’s a rivalry game, and as a player, you know they’re pumped to beat you,” Johnson said. “The thing that really gets me pumped is how all of our fans come out and support in a huge way, whether it’s a home game or an away game.”

 

Senior guard Brandon Dunson, who transferred from Arizona State this year, already understands how much this rivalry means to the team and its fans.

 

“The rivalry is big to our team,” Dunson said. “We try to come into every game with the same mindset; that the next game is our most important one, but in all honesty, there is probably, unintentionally, a stronger internal motivation when playing against them.”

 

Dunson went on to express his excitement to be a part of the APU-Biola rivalry.

 

“I have definitely felt the intensity of the rivalry since my arrival,” Dunson said. “It’s exciting to be a part of it, especially with the energy the students and general fans bring to the gym.”

 

Next year, APU will officially become an NCAA school while Biola will remain in the NAIA. This could mean danger for the rivalry that both schools have embraced. In all reality, there does not have to be any more games between the two schools.

 

Fortunately, Leslie says that both he and the Biola basketball head coach have agreed to keep playing each year.

 

“Our intention is to play our game at the Staples Center next year before an NBA game,” Leslie revealed. “We’re committed to keeping one game a year between APU and Biola basketball … because we do think [the rivalry] is good for both teams.”

 

While APU will be moving up to a whole different level of basketball next year, it looks like the Cougars’ rivalry with the Eagles of Biola will not be going anywhere.