SAN DIEGO, Calif. – There was a lot at stake entering Saturday's regular season finale between the Concordia University Irvine and Point Loma men's basketball teams.

The Eagles needed a victory over their rivals to earn a share of the PacWest Conference crown. The winner would also earn the top seed at the upcoming PacWest Tournament. Plus, a CUI victory would finish off a difficult sweep over one of their toughest opponents.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, Saturday's game did not turn out the way they envisioned. 

Point Loma shot the ball extremely well and a late rally by CUI was not enough as the Sea Lions prevailed, 93-83. Both teams however will still enjoy a first-round bye at the conference tournament and the Eagles will be the No. 2 seed up in San Rafael, Calif.

Dressed in their black uniforms, the Eagles trailed by 15 points when the halftime buzzer sounded.  The Sea Lions shot a sizzling 60 percent from the floor and the Eagles struggled to find a rhythm at the outset.

"We didn't compete at a high level for 30 minutes, and that's not going to get it done," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "We got pushed around in the first half. They forced us to take mediocre shots and we gave them great looks. You're never going to beat a good team if that happens."

Brian Chambers led the CUI offense with 21 points and five assists. He also made all five of his free throw attempts and has sunk 39 consecutive foul shots at the charity stripe.

Kayle Knuckles added 17 points and Kyle Gray chipped in with 12.

The Eagles fell behind 70-41 with 11 minutes to play in regulation before rattling off an impressive 27-6 run.  Austin Clarke, Chambers and Knuckles each hit a three in the flurry and two freebies by Gray at the line trimmed the Point Loma lead to 76-68 before the final media timeout.

But over the course of the final four minutes, the Sea Lions were able to break the full court press a few times and a dunk by Sterling Somers sealed the win for Point Loma.

"I'm super proud of this team," said Knuckles. "I don't think this game should take away from anything we've done. We have a whole lot of season left, so I'm excited to see how it goes."

The Eagles finished the regular season 22-9 overall and 18-4 in conference play. That included a 12-1 home record as well as a perfect 11-0 mark against PacWest schools at CU Arena.

"We put ourselves in position to win the conference and we didn't get it done (tonight) but we had an incredible regular season," said Ammann. "It was one of the most enjoyable regular seasons I can remember just with guys never making excuses and competing at a high level virtually every night."

As the No. 2 seed in the upcoming PacWest Tournament, CUI gets to bypass Thursday's quarterfinal round and face No. 3 seed Chaminade at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, March 8 at 12:30 p.m.  Chaminade defeated No. 6 seed Holy Names 108-97 in the first game of the tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The men's basketball title game will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 9 with the women's championship game to follow at approximately 4 p.m that day.

"We need to get ready to make a run here and try to win the next two tournaments," added Ammann. "Hopefully we can qualify for the regional and get into that. We're enjoying the journey every night and we're excited to go play."

"I feel like this team is really built for this," said Chambers. "We're all looking forward to the conference tournament and we're heading back to my favorite road gym (at Dominican) so I can't wait for it."

For the full schedule of games at the PacWest Conference Tournament, click here.