LA MIRADA, Calif. - In the first matchup in over 26 years between undefeated area foes, the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team broke open a close contest in the second half to down Biola University, 60-49, Saturday night at Chase Gymnasium.

With the victory, CPP rounds out non-conference play at 4-0. Playing its home opener, Biola falls to 3-1. The Eagles were picked second in the Pacific West Conference's preseason poll. Though only a little over 20 miles separate the campuses, it was the first meeting between the teams since a season-opening 79-60 Biola win in Pomona on Nov. 17, 1995.

The Broncos have thus banked a third impressive regional result already for postseason purposes, having knocked off No. 21 Seattle Pacific and perennial contender Azusa Pacific at home over the opening weekend.

CPP's initial basket was a three-pointer by redshirt freshman Christopher Mitchell for their first lead of the night at 3-2. Mitchell was later fouled underneath in transition and knocked down both free ones for 9-4.

A steal by true freshman Jaden Winfield led to a three-on-one fast break that initially was unsuccessful, but reigning and first-time California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Player of the Week Phoenix Shackelford gathered his own miss and put it back up and in for an 11-4 CPP advantage as Biola called a timeout.

Biola went 4:34 between made field goals, finally getting a banked jump shot by Alex Wright off a nice bounce pass by fellow preseason All-PacWest selection Michael Bagatourian for 11-7. Shackelford then stole it and got the uncontested layup for a 15-7 bulge at the under-12 timeout.

CPP continued its strong play out of the stoppage, as redshirt freshman Brase Dottin drilled a three-pointer, and Shackelford got a defensive rebound, ran the break and found fellow senior Tavian Henderson on his left for a left-handed scoop layup and a 20-7 lead. The teams then traded five-point mini-runs to leave the Broncos up 25-12 at the last timeout.

A late rally from Biola, mainly coming from the charity stripe with the Broncos scoreless over 3:23, was offset to some degree by a right-wing Henderson triple, as CPP took a 28-20 lead into the halftime interval.

Cal Poly Pomona had its trademark, suffocating defense on full display over the first 20 minutes, allowing just the 20 points on five made field goals and 20.0 percent (5-25) shooting from the floor, while forcing 12 turnovers. The Eagles had another scoreless stretch of 5:35 late, and in fact, until a Chris Rossow three-pointer at the 1:15 mark, had managed only seven free throws between made field goals over a span of 8:53.

Biola sprinted out of the locker room and scored the first eight points of the second half to force an early CPP timeout, which worked out well for head coach Greg Kamansky as Bagatourian missed his free throw coming out of the break, and Mitchell hit a jumper to go back on top.

An 11-0 Bronco run broke a 32-32 tie around the under-12 media timeout and basically ended the drama. Early in the stretch, Mitchell got his hands on a steal and handed it off down low for an easy Henderson layup. Then true freshman Dane Erikstrup reentered the contest and immediately stepped out to nail a three-pointer from the top of the key.

After the Eagles had finally snapped the CPP string, Henderson was nothing-but-net with his left-wing triple. Redshirt freshman Chris Gayles Jr. gathered the rebound on the other end, pushed forward and set up a streaking Henderson with a bounce pass for a thunderous dunk, a 48-34 bulge, and a Biola timeout at the nine-minute mark.

The guests continued to pour it on, as Erikstrup stole the ball out of the timeout, and tacked on a pair of free throws and a face-up jumper around the right baseline for 52-34 by the under-eight stoppage.

The lead grew to as many as 20 points, with Biola never again shaving the deficit under the final margin of 11.

Henderson finished with his first collegiate double-double, compiling season bests of 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, all on the defensive end. Mitchell joined him at 12 points, while Erikstrup added 11 to equal his season high, and Shackelford 10. Sophomore Tay Aubry-Thomas contributed eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, four boards, two assists, one block and a steal off the bench.

For Biola, Maximo Milovich had a double-double of his own with a game-high 15 points and 11 rebounds. Rossow collected 11 points, but turned the ball over a game-high eight times of BU's 21 on the night.

CPP shot at a 45.3 percent clip for the game, to 34.5 percent by Biola. Despite a trio of second-half ties, the home side never led after 4-3.

CPP opens the 22-game CCAA slate after the Thanksgiving holiday on Saturday, Nov. 27, at rival Cal State San Bernardino. The Broncos and Coyotes are favored for third and second, respectively, in the league's preseason coaches' poll, with the squads combining for five first-place nods and both receiving votes outside the top 25 of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Preseason Poll. Tip-off at Coussoulis Arena is slated for 3 p.m., after the women's game at 1 p.m.

All CCAA basketball contests throughout this 2021-22 season will stream live online via the CCAA Network at www.ccaanetwork.com. Fans may also download the CCAA Network app on your iOS or Android smartphone, tablet, or through web streaming devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku or Apple TV. The broadcasts are free of charge through the remainder of the 2021 calendar year.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 421-166 (.717) overall under 22nd-year head coach and record five-time CCAA Coach of the Year Greg Kamansky ... The Broncos' starting five consisted of seniors Tavian Henderson and Phoenix Shackelford, redshirt freshman Christopher Mitchell, and true freshmen Dane Erikstrup and Jaden Winfield, for the fourth game in a row to begin the season ... Henderson reached double figures in rebounds for the fourth time as a collegian, and first time as a Bronco, matching his career high from his sophomore year at Saint Martin's University ... CPP is 4-0 for the first time since starting the 2015-16 campaign with 12 consecutive wins ... CPP is 17-9 in the all-time series that dates all the way back to 1954-55, including 4-5 in La Mirada since 1974-75 ... Saturday marked the first meeting of the Kamansky era, and the first in La Mirada since a 79-73 Biola win on Jan. 2, 1988 ... The game tipped off about 40 minutes after the scheduled 7:45 p.m., due to an equipment issue that arose during warmups ... Milestone Watch: Shackelford now has 875 career points, while Henderson has 441 rebounds (311 at Saint Martin's).