Concordia men’s basketball team advances to PacWest championship game for first time

Brian Chambers of Concordia drives to the basket against Chaminade. (Photo courtesy Mark Alexander, For OC Sports Zone)

Concordia University Irvine men’s basketball team notched a historic victory Friday afternoon, defeating Chaminade 75-69 in the semifinal round of the PacWest Conference Championships to advance to the title game for the first time in school history.

CUI junior Jamel White came up clutch with a team-high 23 points and drained five huge three-pointers. The senior trio of Brian Chambers (18 points), Tyler Lacour (10 points) and Geoff Gerlach (8 points) also helped give the Eagles a lift on offense.

White shot a solid 34 percent from downtown during the regular season, but came out on fire in San Rafael.  He went 5-for-8 from three-point land against the Silverswords and the Eagles shot 42 percent (10-for-24) as a team.

Fresh off making the first team all-conference squad, Chambers shot 50 percent from the floor and scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half.

Lacour was a difference-maker off the bench against the Silverswords and scored seven points in the first half.  After both teams locked in on defense to start, Lacour checked in and ignited the CUI offense with a fancy shake and bake move in the paint.  His left-handed floater gave Concordia a 10-9 lead and the Eagles soon built a 35-28 advantage by intermission.

In the first half, the Eagles shot 48.3 percent from the floor and hit five three pointers.  The defense was strong as well. CUI held Chaminade to just 33.3 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three.

In the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Eagles played perhaps their finest basketball of the season against a quality opponent.  Concordia went on a quick 10-1 lead to begin the half, and after a pair of layups by Gerlach and Robert Taylor along with threes by Chambers and White, the Eagles stretched their lead to 16.

They continued the offensive assault from behind the three-point line, stretching their lead to 19 after another 3-pointer by White with 11:16 remaining.

But over the final 10 minutes, the Eagles offense went cold. The Silverswords climbed back in the game after forcing a few turnovers and were able to trim the CUI lead to just four points at 67-63 with under two minutes to play.

Tyler Cartaino led the charge for Chaminade with a game-high 30 points, but CUI clamped down on defense against scoring sensation Grant Dressler.  Dressler was held to only 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting from the floor.

Despite seeing their lead shrink to four points, CUI’s Lacour, Chambers and White each sank a pair of free throws to help ice the game. The Green and Gold were able to convert 11-of-14 shots from the charity stripe during the contest which helped CUI hold on for one of the biggest wins in school history.

This marks the first time CUI will play in the title game of the men’s bracket at the PacWest Championships.

Concordia will face top-seeded Point Loma in the PacWest championship game at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament. In their previous two meetings, both teams won on their home floor during the regular season.

-Courtesy Ben Rosehart