The Eagles returned to their winning ways with an 88-70 home victory over Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday afternoon.  After losing a non-conference affair to Seattle Pacific before Christmas, Concordia University Irvine got back on track and remained undefeated in conference play.

Concordia (10-5, 6-0 PacWest) threw a three-party on its home court, splashing 14-of-29 three-pointers to the chagrin of the visiting Argonauts (0-11, 0-5 PacWest).  Four different Eagles hit at least two treys and the Argos could not catch up after CUI built a 41-29 halftime lead.

Senior Brian Chambers shot the lights out and finished with 34 points.  Chambers gained confidence early and went 11-for-21 from the floor as well as a dazzling 7-for-10 from downtown.  The Long Beach, Calif. native also finished a game-best +24 and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

 "After my first two shots went in, I honestly felt like I couldn't miss," explained Chambers. "Our ball-movement was pretty good and I felt like it was my duty to attack and I thought moving the ball helped all of us."

After NDNU made the first basket of the game, the Eagles promptly went on a 14-0 tear.  Chambers drilled two treys in the first five minutes and after Kyle Gray converted another three, CUI was up 14-2 and the Argos called a timeout to regroup.

Austin Clarke chipped in with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting.  He joined the three-party with a pair of treys in the first half and his second long ball pushed the CUI lead to 25-14. 

Even with their success from long range, the Eagles were unafraid to take it inside as well.  Senior Geoff Gerlach contributed 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and collected a team-high eight rebounds in the paint.

"It was great to bounce back after the break and get a win," said Concordia head coach Ken Ammann.  "Our goal was to play a higher level than we did when we left for break and I thought we played well enough to get a win against a scrappy team, but we need to play better."

The Eagles led by as many as 18 and maintained a double-digit cushion for most of the second half.  But there is still room for improvement.

"The shooting covered a lot of defensive mistakes," continued Ammann.  "Brian had a great shooting game, Geoff played a really good floor game and Austin Clarke was really good for us too, but we have to clean up some of our defense.  We have to take that to a higher level and quick."

The Eagles have just one day off before hosting Holy Names on New Year's Eve at 3:30 p.m.

"Holy Names is playing really, really well and they will be a difficult matchup for us," added Ammann. "They match up well with us, so we need to be ready to go."

Tip-off for the women's game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 31 with the men's game to follow at 3:30 p.m. in Irvine.

For the full Concordia men's basketball schedule click here.