ORANGE, Calif. – After trailing Wayne State by 11 points at the break and by as many as 13 in the second half, the Concordia University Irvine men's basketball team flipped the script and escaped with a 75-73 win on Saturday afternoon.

Newcomer Andre Green came up clutch late in the second half, scoring the final five points of the game for the No. 23 Eagles. Green banked in a wide-open layup with 36 seconds left after Rob McCoy sucked the defense towards him and dished the ball at the perfect moment. It wound up being the game-winning basket after Wayne State missed a three-pointer on their final trip down the court. To watch the video highlight of that play, click here.

On the previous possession, Green converted a three-point play after he was fouled on another layup that went down. He finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

"During the last two minutes for me it was just about locking in on my assignment on defense and running the floor on offense," said Green. "We all did the little things that mattered in the biggest moments and we pulled off a great comeback and team win."

CUI senior guard Jamel White posted team-highs with 16 points and five assists. The Louisiana native also collected two key rebounds in the final 70 seconds to help preserve the win down the stretch.

The Eagles were able to pull out the win despite getting outrebounded 44-35. In particular, Jordan Janssen was a menace on the boards. He posted a double-double for Wayne State and finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

"Very proud for the fight we showed after halftime," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "But if we don't commit to rebounding we will not win games."

"Andre, Kyle, Jamel and Rob Taylor sparked us with energy and brought some much needed physicality to initiate the comeback," added Ammann.

Jalen Sanders added 12 points and six rebounds for the Eagles, including this three that received a friendly roll. CUI shot 50 percent in the second half to outscore Wayne State 47-34 after the break. The Eagles also went 7-for-19 from behind the arc after making 13 treys in their season opener on Friday against UT-Permian Basin.

"I think our team has a really good mindset of being dogs and fighting through adversity," explained senior Mike Mellinger, who nailed a three-pointer off the bench for the second straight game. "We're real close and it's good to see that we can come back and come out to start the second half really strong and try to get after it together."
Next up for Concordia is a Sunday date with Ferris State, which won the NCAA DII Championship two years ago in 2018.

"We've been in this tournament before and not done so well, so 2-0 is a really big deal for us," continued Mellinger. "We're out here to prove that we are a really good team and we have to do it every single day."

Sunday's game is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. at Santiago Canyon College in what will be the final game of the DII Tip-Off Classic.

For the full CUI men's basketball schedule, click here.