Game slips away from Eagles to Silverswords
Emily Duran
Box Score If the post-holiday PacWest season opener between Concordia and Chaminade was a representation of what's to be expected for the rest of the year-Â fans, spectators and players can anticipate competitive matches between teams who simply refuse to lose.
The Eagles and Silverswords spent Tuesday night in Honolulu, Hawai'i in a battle to the final second of the game. Chaminade claimed the 88-83 victory over Concordia.
Brian Chambers led the Eagles with 16 points and six rebounds. Cameron English scored 13 with eight assists, making six of six shots from the field. Mike Mellinger made 12 points with four rebounds and one steal.
Case Bruton and Tad Dufelmeier opened up the game the way they closed out their last, applying offensive pressure with Bruton scoring the first points of the game on an assist from Dufelmeier.
Dufelmeier followed up with a free throw and three-pointer to give the Eagles a 6-2 edge with 17:44 to play. Chambers chipped in with five consecutive points to start his night out.
Concordia kept the offense rolling through the first 10 minutes, gaining a 24-10 lead. Despite the advantage, the Silverswords snuck back into the game on a few runs in the last minutes of the first half to cut the halftime score down to 44-37.
At the start of the second, the Silverswords' six point opening run set the stage for the final half. With the momentum slipping to the Silverswords, Dalton Patchen's dunk for his eighth point of the game put the Eagles up 51-48.
The tight race between the opposing PacWest teams remained tight until the Silverswords extended on a seven point stretch to take the 65-59 lead. The Eagles bounced back, and tied the game 66 on two free throws from Justin Davis. Â
With 5:26 to play, Chaminade captured a 73-68 lead. The Eagles called a quick timeout, and struck immediately after with a layup from Mellinger. English added one more to cut the Silversword lead to one. But, Chaminade put together another five in a row to go ahead 78-73 with 2:29 to play.
With under two minutes, Dufelmeier delivered his fourth assist of the night to Mellinger to shrink the Silversword lead to three. Chaminade went to a timeout, and knocked down a three-pointer. A foul sent Dufelmeier to the line, where he made back to back shots to reduce the opponent's lead to four. The Silverswords came back with two successful free throws of their own, but the Eagles continued to fight. Davis converted his offensive rebound into two points.
Down 81-86, English's layup gave the Eagles an opportunity. With one second on the clock, Concordia took a timeout. The Eagles then sent the Silverswords to the line, but Kiran Shastri closed out the game 88-83.
Concordia, now 7-6 and 3-2 in conference, continues its PacWest matchups in Hawai'i on Thursday against BYU Hawai'i (3-9, 1-5 PacWest) at 10:30 p.m.
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