Concordia’s Brian Chambers drives to the basket during Saturday’s championship game (Photo courtesy Mark Alexander, For OC Sports Zone)
For the first time in program history, the Concordia University Irvine men’s basketball team is heading to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
The Eagles (23-10, 18-4 PacWest) were awarded the No. 6 seed in the West Regional during Sunday’s selection show and will face No. 3 seed Saint Martin’s (24-5, 17-3 GNAC) in a regional quarterfinal on Friday at noon.
Top-seeded Point Loma is hosting the West Regional in San Diego.
The West Regional semifinals will be held on Saturday at Point Loma with the Concordia-Saint Martin’s winner playing at 5 p.m.
The West Regional Final will be Monday at 7:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NCAA DII Elite Eight (March 27-30) out in Evansville, Ind.
The PacWest Conference will be well-represented in this year’s NCAA West Regional. Joining CUI in the bracket is the top seed and regional tournament host Point Loma as well as No. 7 seed Chaminade, who the Eagles defeated for the second time this season last Thursday in the semifinals of the PacWest Conference Championships. Chaminade will play No. 2 seed Seattle Pacific on Friday.
Saint Martin’s entered conference tournament week as the projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Region but ultimately fell to the No. 3 seed after getting upset in the GNAC semifinals to eventual No. 8 seed Western Oregon.
Saint Martin’s also went 4-0 against PacWest schools with a pair of impressive road wins over Point Loma and Notre Dame de Namur. Concordia and Saint Martin’s were two of only four teams to defeat Point Loma this season. The Saints also defeated Fresno Pacific and Holy Names at neutral sites in non-conference action.
Concordia advanced to the championship game but lost to Point Loma 67-58 Saturday night. Brian Chambers, a first team all-conference player, led Concordia with 12 points. Robert Taylor added 11 points.
The Eagles Geoff Gerlach received honorable mention while Kayle Knuckles garnered PacWest Freshman of the Year honors.
-Courtesy Ben Rosehart
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