LA MIRADA, Calif. – On a night where both teams played great defense and neither squad shot well from downtown, the "Battle of the Eagles" went to the Green and Gold thanks to a late rally on Biola's home floor.

Concordia University Irvine (18-8, 14-3 PacWest) swept the season series with its regional rivals by ending the game on a 10-0 run and escaping with a 59-52 victory. 

Biola (12-10, 8-8 PacWest) led 52-49 before Robert Taylor made a layup and Brian Chambers knocked down two free throws to put CUI in front by one, 53-52. 

Then in the final minute of regulation, Chambers poked away the ball and fed Taylor for a breakaway layup which extended the Concordia lead to 55-52.  Cameron English then corralled a rebound off a missed three-point attempt by Biola and the visiting Eagles clamped down on defense to hang on for their fifth win in their last six contests.

"I was really proud of our guys for keeping our poise when nothing was working well," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "It was just a tough, tough fight."

Biola built a 20-10 lead right out of the gate and expanded that margin to 24-12 with under five minutes to play in the first half.  But multiple steals by Concordia's guards helped get the Green and Gold back on track.

Brian Chambers and Jamel White each forced a couple turnovers which led to easy baskets in transition. A breakaway layup by White before the halftime buzzer capped off a 13-0 run and gave Concordia an unlikely 25-24 lead.

In the second half, Biola led 46-39 before Austin Clarke spurred a 9-0 run for CUI. Clarke nailed a trey to pull CUI within 46-40.  A few possessions later, Clarke drilled another trey to pull CUI within one, 46-45.  Clarke finished with 10 points, which all came in the second half.

"It was hard to get off good shots," said Clarke. "It was definitely a grind. With two good defensive teams a low-scoring game is going to happen, and we just stuck to the strategy we played and it worked out for us."

"Austin hit some big shots off the bench that saved us," added Ammann.

Chambers finished with a team-high 19 points and four steals. Taylor added 12 points and five rebounds.

Concordia returns to action this Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at home against Hawai'i Hilo in the second annual 6th Man Game. It will also be a "Code Yellow" for Concordia fans sponsored by The Habit Burger Grill. Fans are encouraged to wear yellow or gold to CU Arena and free Code Yellow t-shirts and other giveaways will be part of the scheduled promotion.

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