Concordia’s Rob Taylor (No. 5) scored a team-high 18 points Saturday against Fresno Pacific to lead Concordia University Irvine to its eighth straight victory.
The Concordia University Irvine men’s basketball team stayed perfect in PacWest Conference play by escaping with a 71-62 road victory over the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds on Saturday.
The first-place Eagles (9-4, 5-0 PacWest) won their eighth straight contest and have not lost since facing Cal State San Marcos on a neutral floor back on Nov. 10.
CUI’s stout defense pressured the Sunbirds (3-5, 1-3 PacWest) to commit 23 turnovers and the Eagles capitalized by cashing in for 24 points off those FPU mistakes.
Robert Taylor led the Eagles in scoring with 18 points and collected eight rebounds and two steals. Senior Brian Chambers flirted with a triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists while forward Cam English and current Newport Rib Company Eagle of the Week Geoff Gerlach each contributed ten points.
“Very proud of our guys tonight,” said Concordia Coach Ken Ammann. “This was another hard-fought road win when nothing was easy. Getting stops was difficult, getting and converting good shots was even more difficult and we couldn’t sustain any big momentum. All the credit to our players for being tough-minded and finding a way to get it done against a good team.”
Taylor scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half to help the Eagles build a 38-32 advantage at intermission. The Eagles did not make a single three-pointer in the first 20 minutes and overcame a 1-for-12 shooting night from behind the arc thanks to their focus on defense and their free throw shooting.
CUI converted 10-of-15 shots from the charity stripe, while Fresno Pacific went just 4-for-12 at the free throw line.
“It was a pretty even game going into halftime,” added Austin Clarke, who contributed five points and played a key role on defense in the second half. “We really came together in the second half to finish out with a good team win.”
The Sunbirds briefly took the lead midway through the second half 48-46 after a layup by Nehemiah Allen, but CUI regrouped quickly. Taylor and Chambers each converted a pair of layups during a 14-4 run to help the Eagles pull ahead 60-52.
After that burst, CUI never let the Sunbirds get closer than four points and led by as many as ten on two occasions.
English sealed the victory with a dunk with just over a minute to play in regulation off a nifty assist by Chambers.
“I thought I matched up against their forwards well and could utilize my skills to score inside and out,” said English, who also hauled in seven rebounds. “Overall, we just grinded it out on offense and made enough plays to win.”
Concordia had trouble sinking jump shots over the course of the game but made up for it by attacking the rim relentlessly. The Green and Gold shot 46 percent from the field and finished off countless possessions with layups to frustrate the Fresno Pacific defense.
Chambers and Taylor also concentrated on cleaning the glass from their guard positions and combined for 19 rebounds.
Concordia returns to action at home this Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. when Seattle Pacific visits CU Arena for a non-conference tilt. The Eagles will be seeking their ninth straight victory and admission is free.
–Courtesy Ben Rosehart
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