IRVINE, Calif. – Concordia University Irvine claimed a sweep in the season series with Academy of Art Thursday night, thanks to a big all-around game from Brian Chambers and a swarming defense that forced 24 turnovers.

Chambers poured in 32 points and went a perfect 15-for-15 at the free throw line to lead the Eagles to a 93-83 victory.  The senior from Long Beach, Calif. also handed out eight assists and collected seven steals.

PacWest Freshman of the Week Kayle Knuckles continued to be a threat from deep with a pair of treys and finished with 16 points while senior Geoff Gerlach helped out in the paint with 11 points.  Jamel White added 10 points and Cameron English provided a big lift off the bench with nine points, six rebounds, three steals and a couple of blocks.

After ARTU opened up a brief 27-23 lead in the first half, the Eagles (14-7, 10-2 PacWest) rattled off a 10-0 run to assert themselves on offense.  Knuckles drilled a trey, English and Chambers each made a layup and then Chambers drained a teardrop three-pointer from NBA range to force the visitors to take a timeout.

The Knights (6-11, 6-6 PacWest) trimmed the CUI lead to one by the break, with the Eagles holding a slim 43-42 advantage at halftime.  The two squads were tied at 45-45 before Robert Taylor muscled his way for a slam to give the Eagles a lead they would not relinquish.

A key moment in the contest came midway through the second half when Chambers dove to the floor for a loose ball near midcourt and poked it past a Knights player to teammate Kyle Gray. The junior transfer from Citrus College promptly scooted in for a breakaway bucket and the Eagles seized the momentum.  As a result, CUI extended its lead to 78-69 and the Knights never got any closer than eight points the rest of the way.

"Whether it was diving on the floor or taking charges, that's a big emphasis for us," explained Chambers. "When people are driving, it's not on just one guy to stop the ball it's on all five and I feel like if I get beat, one of my teammates have my back. I think defensively that's what worked for us."

The Eagles stayed aggressive the entire evening and capitalized on their opponent's mistakes by scoring 30 points off the 24 ARTU turnovers.

CUI also did a better job on the glass this time around.  Back in December, when the Green and Gold eked out an overtime victory by three on the Knights home floor, ARTU outrebounded the Eagles by an impressive 42-21 margin.

On Thursday, English and Gerlach each converted some crafty layups off passes from their CUI guards, but they also held their own on the boards as ARTU only came up with four more caroms this time around.

"I know last game they really outrebounded us by a lot so this game we were told to rebound, rebound, rebound," stressed English. "So we went in there and got the boards as much as we could and really fought to get the advantage over their post players."

"They outplayed us for the majority of the game in our first meeting," admitted Concordia head coach Ken Ammann. "But I thought we did a better job focusing to earn some more stops that we just couldn't get in the first half. They're a really good team and I think they can beat anybody in the league. They should be in the tournament at the end of the year."

Concordia became just the second PacWest Conference team to earn 10 league wins as they stayed two-and-a-half games behind first-place Point Loma (17-2, 13-0).  The Eagles remained in second place and enter the weekend 1.5 games ahead of third-place Chaminade (14-3, 8-3) in the race for the second seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming PacWest Conference Tournament in March.

"I feel like we are positioned perfectly," said Chambers.  "The first-place team (Point Loma) is ahead of us by two games but we (still have yet to) play them twice.  So those are going to be two important games but first we have a big game Saturday and I just want to keep it going."

Concordia welcomes Dominican to CU Arena this Saturday, Jan. 26 on Homecoming Night.  Tipoff for the men's game is set for 7:30 p.m. PT while the women's game between the Eagles and Penguins will get going at 5:30 p.m that night.
"Looking forward to having an enthusiastic crowd on Saturday," said Ammann. "There are a lot of games left so we need to stay hungry and keep getting better."

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