SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – There's a first time for everything.

On Saturday, the Concordia University Irvine men's basketball team made its first appearance in the PacWest Conference Championship Game.

In a rematch between the top two teams in the league, the Eagles put together an impressive defensive effort against top-seeded Point Loma and received another solid all-around performance from junior Jamel White.

Unfortunately, the Eagles (23-10, 18-4 PacWest) will have to wait at least one more year to hoist the PacWest Conference Tournament trophy for the first time.

After a low-scoring first half for both squads, Point Loma was able to fend off the Eagles and earn the   tournament title with a 67-58 win.

Defense was Concordia's calling card as it has been all season. The Eagles forced 22 total turnovers in this game and held Point Loma to just 24 points in the first half.

"This was our best defensive game," said White, who led the Eagles in scoring for the second straight day with 17 points. "We held (Preston) Beverly and (Daulton) Hommes to a low percentage shooting and they were uncomfortable today with their passes and their shots. I'm happy with how we played defense, but our shots weren't going in."

The Sea Lions also clamped down on the defensive end and held CUI to just 19 points before intermission.  Concordia did not make a three-pointer until Brian Chambers knocked one down a few minutes into the second half.

"We defended really hard and made it hard for them to get anything done," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "We just couldn't get the ball in the basket enough."

Concordia shot just 29 percent from the field (18-for-63) against the Sea Lions and finished the day making only three of their 15 attempts from downtown (20 percent). CUI was able to stay close by getting to the free throw line, and converted 80 percent of their foul shots (19-for-24).

Chambers overcame early foul trouble and chipped in with 12 points while Robert Taylor added 11 points and six rebounds. Kyle Gray added five steals and a breakaway layup that got the CUI fans in attendance pumped up.  Members of the CUI softball and women's basketball teams were rooting on the Eagles in Dominican's gym and the number of CUI supporters noticeably outnumbered the Point Loma following. The CUI softball team extended its winning streak to 15 after sweeping Dominican on Friday up in the Bay Area and is ranked No. 3 in the latest NFCA poll.

"I live for moments like this and so does our team," said Chambers, who was named First Team All-Conference earlier this week.  "I just felt like the crowd that came out and supported us really did their job. They were loud and we wanted to bring it home. We just couldn't get it done. We really, truly appreciate the support."

"This is one of my favorite groups I've ever had," added Ammann. "A group that's just fun to compete with. It was a great hard-fought game. It's a shame we didn't make some shots we normally make."

A late trey by White brought the Eagles within 58-55 with under two minutes to play in regulation. Point Loma however was able to hit enough foul shots down the stretch to finish off the hard-fought win.

"This is one of the toughest games we've played," said White. "I wanted it real bad and my team wanted it real bad. Hopefully we can get in the regionals and hopefully we will get to see (Point Loma) again.

The Eagles entered the week in the top eight of the NCAA DII West region rankings.  Point Loma, Seattle Pacific (GNAC) and UC San Diego (CCAA) earned automatic berths by virtue of winning their respective conference tournaments on Saturday.  In addition to that trio, there will be five more teams making the bracket as at-large teams. 

Concordia and Chaminade are expected to join Point Loma as representatives of the PacWest Conference when the NCAA DII bracket will be announced on Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. PT on NCAA.com. The No. 1 seeds from each of the eight regions will be announced one hour prior to the selection show on both the NCAA DII Twitter and Facebook pages.

"I'm just really proud of our guys," added Taylor. "We played really hard and now we're just looking forward to regionals."

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