Concordia men’s basketball team survives overtime scare for fifth consecutive victory

Concordia University Irvine senior Tyler Lacour was one of five Eagles to score in double figures in Saturday’s overtime win at Academy of Art.

In order to extend its winning streak to five, the Concordia University Irvine men’s basketball team had to erase an 18-point deficit, overcome the loss of two seniors and hang on in overtime despite being short-handed down the stretch.

It wasn’t easy, but the Eagles (6-4, 2-0 PacWest) found a way on Saturday on the road against Academy of Art (0-7, 0-2), maneuvering their way to an exciting 82-79 victory.

Jamel White tallied a team-high 13 points and was one of five Eagles to break double digits in the scoring column.  Junior Cameron English and seniors Brian Chambers, Geoff Gerlach, and Tyler Lacour each scored 11 points, while Kyle Gray and Kayle Knuckles each chipped in with nine.

The Eagles fell behind the Knights 12-0 to start the game and trailed 36-18 late in the first half before slowly working their way back into the contest.

The Eagles gained confidence when they closed the first half on a timely 12-4 run to trim the Knights lead to ten.  Gray scored seven points in less than two minutes, LaCour added a layup, and Knuckles sank a trey to make it just 40-30 ARTU at the break.

But the intermission did not cool off the Eagles.  English sank two free throws to cap off an 11-1 run to open the second half, with his second freebie knotting the game at 41.

After falling behind by nine again on multiple occasions, Chambers gave Concordia its first lead of the night at 60-59 with two makes from the charity stripe.  But then Chambers fouled out with just under six minutes to play in regulation and Lacour had to leave the game with an injury.

“This game showed us how to fight through adversity and compete as a team,” explained English. “The end result ended up in our favor because of our effort.”

After Zuri Williams hit a trey to put the Knights up 71-68 with under a minute to go, Knuckles hit a clutch three-pointer with 25 seconds left in regulation to knot the score at 71 and force overtime.

“I knew we probably needed a three and I came off the pick and pop and just let it fly,” said Knuckles. “We had to dig in when it wasn’t pretty and we had to keep fighting until the end.”  

In the extra period, Gerlach and White took over.  Gerlach scored six points in a row to put CUI in front 77-73, and then White drilled five free throws to ice the game.

“That was one of the most difficult games I can remember,” said Concordia Coach Ken Ammann. “ARTU is extremely tough and played really hard tonight. We got down 18 with three minutes to go in the first half and it took everything we had to claw back into it.  I’m very proud of the guys for never giving up and finding a way to get it to overtime and then get it done.”

After winning their last four games by an average of 15.5 points, the Eagles found a different path to victory.

Their next chance to compete comes Wednesday, Dec. 5 at home against Azusa Pacific at 7:30 p.m. The game will be the second part of a doubleheader against the Cougars with the women’s basketball teams squaring off first at 5:30 p.m. on Ugly Christmas Sweater Night.

-Courtesy Ben Rosehart