Concordia men’s basketball team captures seventh straight conference victory

Jamel White (taking a shot) and the Concordia Eagles have won 10 of their last 11 games.

Despite getting out-rebounded and having their leading scorer get into early foul trouble, the Concordia University Irvine men’s basketball team persevered and was able to finish 2018 with its seventh conference victory in a row, 85-72 over Holy Names on Monday.

The first-place Eagles (11-5, 7-0 PacWest) have won 10 of their last 11 games overall and are tied with Point Loma atop the league standings as the calendar flips to 2019.

Austin Clarke racked up a career-high 20 points off the bench to lead all scorers in the New Year’s Eve showdown.  Brian Chambers scored all 17 of his points in the second half after picking up three quick fouls while Geoff Gerlach and Jamel White each chipped in with 10 points.

“Our guys did an incredible job today handling a lot of different types of adversity,” said Concordia Coach Ken Ammann.  “Foul trouble, tough matchups and missing a lot of easy baskets could have frustrated us today. However I could not be more proud of how well we stayed focused on competing and guarding them.

“Holy Names has one of the top group of guards in the conference and we were much more mentally tough tonight than we have been in the last several games. We needed to be also, for I feel Holy Names will finish high in the conference and be in the conference tournament this March.”

Cameron English helped pace the offense in the early going with six of his eight points coming in the first half.  Clarke finished the first half with nine points and Kyle Gray scored all of his seven points before halftime as well to help the cause.

“Losing Brian in the first half, he’s a big scorer, a key piece for us,” said Clarke. “So everyone stepped up. I scored more than I normally do, Geoff had a couple more buckets, everyone stepped up and then Brian came back in the second half and really picked up (his game after) what he missed in the first half.”

Chambers was charged with his fourth foul less than a couple minutes into the second half but channeled his energy by shooting a sizzling 6-for-10 down the stretch after missing his first two field goal attempts.  He helped put the game out of reach as the Eagles cruised to their sixth double digit win of the season.

“Chambers had great poise (after) picking up three quick fouls and only playing a few minute in the first half,” added Ammann.  “Very impressive what he did today in the second half considering that. Our bench was similarly poised and focused and saved us once again. Overall it was a great team effort and this is an extremely enjoyable group to compete with when we play like that. We controlled the game in spite of missing a lot of shots we normally would make.”

Holy Names (4-9, 3-5 PacWest) was impressive on the boards and outrebounded the Eagles by a 45-32 margin.  But CUI forced 22 turnovers and capitalized with 17 fast break points.

“The last three games, it was pretty tough because we have some guys injured right now,” said White. “But we all locked in and it shows that we play as a team.”

“We are always hungry for that next win,” added Clarke. “We haven’t played everyone (in the PacWest) yet, so we’re very proud but we still have more work to do.”

After playing five of its last six contests in the friendly confines of CU Arena, Concordia hits the road in January for four straight games away from home.  The Eagles will face Azusa Pacific for the second time this season on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. before heading on its annual Hawaii road trip.

–Courtesy Ben Rosehart