Orange, Calif. - Senior Brian Chambers scored 24 points and newcomer Rob Taylor added 14 points and six steals in his Concordia debut, but the Green and Gold ultimately came up short in their season opener, falling to Embry-Riddle University, 72-69.  Both teams are competing in the Disney DII Tip-Off Classic this weekend at Santiago Canyon College in Orange, Calif.

Geoff Gerlach tied the game at 61 on a tip-in moments after Taylor had scored back-to-back layups to knot the game at 59.  Those baskets were huge because Concordia had rallied back from a double digit deficit.

The Green and Gold trailed by as many as 11 in the second half but fought back in large part to their defense.  Concordia forced 22 turnovers and came away with 13 steals as the squad continued to gain confidence down the stretch.

"The turnovers were huge for us," said Concordia head coach Ken Ammann. "We did a good job of speeding them up and taking them out of their offense."

Taylor had an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation, but the iron was unkind on his off-balance three-point attempt and the Blue and Gold collected the rebound to preserve the win.

CUI led 15-10 early but then Embry-Riddle grabbed the lead thanks to a 9-2 run midway through the first half.  The Green and Gold trailed by five at halftime after Elijah Jenkins sunk a buzzer-beating trey to give Embry-Riddle a 37-32 cushion.

Chambers scored 11 of Concordia's first 17 points and was a handful for the Blue and Gold all day.  He made all six of his shots from the free throw line and helped set the tone on offense.  As a team, Concordia was solid at the charity stripe, converting on 16 of 19 attempts.

The members of the Concordia coaching staff were encouraged that their group was able to draw even on multiple occasions, even though the Eagles were unable to grab control of the game after doing so.

"The difference was they were able to get high percentage shots in the second half and we couldn't get enough stops to get over the hump and get a lead," said Concordia head coach Ken Ammann. 

One area that hurt the Eagles was rebounding.  Embry-Riddle collected 42 rebounds while Concordia managed only 26.

"I was very happy with how hard we played and how well we competed together today," added Ammann. "We can fix the problems that made it difficult to win today. When we tighten up our defense, learn to move the ball better and play with more discipline, we will be a tough team to beat."

Concordia returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 11:15 a.m. in the second game of its three-day appearance at the Disney DII Tip-Off Classic.  The Eagles will face Drury University on Saturday at Santiago Canyon College before taking on West Texas A&M at the same time on Sunday, Nov. 4.