The first-place Concordia Eagles are cooking right now.

Thanks to six straight wins and a perfect 3-0 start in PacWest play, the red-hot Eagles are flying high and soaring up the league standings.

Just ask Azusa Pacific.

The Eagles blitzed the Cougars Wednesday night, forcing 19 turnovers and jumping out to a 21-7 lead.

The Cougars cut the deficit to four late in the first half, but would get no closer as Concordia (7-4, 3-0 PacWest) cruised to a 74-54 victory.

Every time APU (5-5, 2-1 PacWest) tried to make a run, one of the Eagles would come up with a steal or knock down a trey to keep the visitors at bay.

At one point in the second half, Jamel White and Kyle Gray combined for an awkward hustle play along the baseline that ultimately led to an unexpected White trey from the corner in front of the Concordia bench.  After that, White and Austin Clarke each hit another three before the next media timeout, and then Cameron English converted a couple layups to really put the game out of reach.

The Eagles led by as many as 23 points in the second half and emptied the bench in the last few minutes with the outcome no longer in doubt.

Geoff Gerlach led the charge on offense with 18 points and seven rebounds. The senior even stepped outside and hit a rare three-pointer that made the Concordia bench explode with cheers.

"I can't think of a time Geoff has had a better game," said head coach Ken Ammann. "Certainly one of his best games, if not his best game. He did a good job, we needed him to step up and he did."

"All season long we've been waiting for Geoff to have that big game and we knew it was in him," said senior Brian Chambers, "and he really showed tonight that he wanted the ball and every time he touched it something good happened. He quarterbacks our offense as well as our defense."

Chambers also helped set the tone defensively with seven steals.  He and White each scored 15 points, but Gerlach consistently came up with the timely buckets when the Eagles needed it most. 

"My boys just found me in the right spot and I just went to work," said Gerlach. "It's a big win and these guys are a tough opponent, so it feels good."

"Very happy with the focus of our guys for 40 minutes with very little spots of let up," added Ammann. "That's a very well-coached elite program and it was good to play so consistent for 40 minutes. We've struggled with them the last few years and it was good to get a win."

The victory marked the second time this season the Eagles have held an opponent to 55 points or less.  CUI is allowing opponents to score only 66.9 points per game this year through their first 11 contests.

"The key for us was defense, staying locked in throughout and never giving them anything easy," said Kayle Knuckles, who helped the cause by scoring eight points.  "Staying focused on little things like rebounding, boxing out and shutting down the passing lanes."
 
Staying confident but also consistent will be the main priority moving forward for the Green and Gold.

"We have a healthy respect for every team in this league but our guys have done a good job focusing on our next opponent and I'm confident we'll keep doing that," said Ammann. 

Concordia seeks its seventh straight victory this Saturday, Dec. 8 in what is being billed as "The Battle of the Eagles" as Biola comes to town.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m following the conclusion of the women's matchup which begins at 5:30 p.m. that evening.