SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Entering Saturday's regular season finale, the Eagles had two paths to the PacWest Tournament.  The top six teams in the conference will begin PacWest Tournament action next week in San Rafael and the Eagles were just one game away from clinching their spot in the tournament.  Concordia led the Notre Dame de Namur Argonauts by one game in the standings, with each team fighting for the sixth and final spot in the bracket. With a win over the Point Loma Sea Lions, the Eagles would clinch a berth in the field.  With a loss, the Eagles would have to wait to see the result of the NDNU-Hawai'i Pacific game played later in the afternoon. If the Eagles lost and NDNU won, then the Argos would snatch the No. 6 seed and Concordia's season would be over.

If the Eagles were to clinch a spot with a win on Saturday, it was going to be a tough task.  Point Loma began the game hot, and built a comfortable lead in the first quarter. At the end of one, the Sea Lions led 21-14.  In the second quarter, both teams struggled from the field, and though the Eagles were able to keep within striking range, they were unable to cut into the Point Loma lead.  At halftime, CUI trailed 32-25. After struggling mightily with turnovers in their last game, the Eagles turned it over only three times in the first half on Saturday. Riley Friauf led the team with nine points and six rebounds at the break.  Despite some cold shooting, the Eagles were able to stay in the game thanks in part to their solid defense. They held the Sea Lions to just 42.4 percent shooting in the first half.

Though the Eagles and the Sea Lions were competitive throughout the second half, Point Loma did enough to slowly separate and turn the game into a comfortable win.  The Sea Lions outscored the Eagles by just three points in both the third and fourth quarters, but by the end of the game, the final difference was 13 points. After scoring just four points in the first half, Jasmine Rachal had a strong second half, pouring in 11 more points and playing strong defense which included collecting two steals.  Kennedy Fulcher finished with a team-high 12 rebounds, but the Eagles' lack of offensive success ultimately held them back. Despite committing fewer turnovers, scoring more fast break points, and more second chance points, Concordia ultimately lost 65-52. The Green and Gold finished the game shooting just 27 percent from the field and made only 3-of-18 shots from downtown.

"We're definitely young," said Rachal. "And we make young mistakes all the time but we don't want to use that as an excuse. We continue to grow and learn and it was just one of those games."

Even with the loss, the Eagles will still play in next week's PacWest Conference Tournament.  Hawai'i Pacific crushed Notre Dame de Namur in Honolulu to eliminate the Argos from postseason contention.  The Eagles earned the No.6 seed for the upcoming conference tourney and finished the regular season with a 10-17 overall record and 9-13 record in PacWest play.

"This will be a really good experience for us because we are so young," added VanderKlugt. "It's not a good situation to have someone else determine your fate but I think it's a growing process. These last few games we've grown a lot and I think now it's a reward to all the hard work we've put in."

The first round of the PacWest Tournament begins on March 7 in San Rafael, Calif. and will be hosted by Dominican University.  The Eagles will face No. 3 seed Hawai'i Pacific that day at 5:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to Friday's semifinals.

"We've played a lot of tough teams the last couple weeks and I think this season has been a learning season in many ways," said Rachal. "I think it's really helped prepare us since we're going to be playing the best teams in the conference (at the tournament)."

For more information on the PacWest Conference Tournament which begins on Thursday, March 7, click here.