HILO, Hawai'i – The Concordia University Irvine men's basketball team opened up its three-game road swing away from the continental United States with a hard-fought contest against the University of Hawai'i Hilo. The Eagles entered the night winners of nine of their last twelve games while the Vulcans brought an impressive 5-1 record at home to the table.

The Green and Gold started strong and held an early eight-point lead on the road but ultimately the home team emerged with a 71-61 victory.

Offensively, the Eagles (13-6 overall, 7-3 PacWest) were patient on the perimeter in the first half and were able to maneuver with some crisp passing to set up good looks. Kayle Knuckles and Andre Green each stepped into threes to help CUI open up an 11-6 lead by the first media timeout.

Mike Mellinger and Darius Lee quickly made an impact once they checked into the game as well. Mellinger banked in a bucket down low and then found Lee for a corner trey to push CUI's lead to six. After Lee drained another jumper, CUI held a 20-12 advantage midway through the first half.

The Vulcans (8-8 overall, 6-6 PacWest) reeled off a 12-0 run to take the lead before halftime, but the Eagles countered with a trey by Austin Clarke and a hook shot by Cameron English to retake the lead 27-24. After Kyle Gray converted a basket, CUI led 29-26 at the break.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Vulcans wound up shooting 57 percent in the second half and outscored the visitors by 12 after intermission to pull away.

UHH regrouped and built a 40-35 lead but Gray gave CUI a boost when he converted an off-balance hook shot while getting fouled in the paint. He sank the free throw to trim the deficit to 40-38.

On the next two possessions, English drained a floater and a hook shot to tie the contest at 42 and force the Vulcans to take a timeout. The senior post from Oregon wound up leading the Eagles with 10 points on the evening.

Trailing by seven, Knuckles came up with a huge steal and Jalen Sanders followed his teammate's breakaway layup attempt with a putback to bring CUI within 55-50. A couple minutes later after another Knuckles steal, the redshirt sophomore fed Andre Green for a dunk to make it just 57-54 UHH.

The Eagles had a few more chances to knock down some threes down the stretch but ultimately could not string together enough buckets to regain control of the contest. The Vulcans converted enough free throws down the stretch to close it out.

Jamel White finished a team-best +10 on the night. Sanders and McCoy also combined for seven blocks.

The teams also participated in the annual Coaches vs. Cancer event by wearing sneakers with their normal khakis and dress pants. Coaches vs. Cancer is a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to help raise awareness in the fight against cancer. CUI assistant coach Austin Ruiz even wore pink sneakers in honor of his mother who has overcome both oral cancer and breast cancer.

CUI continues its three-game road trip on the Islands with a Saturday matinee at Chaminade beginning at 5 p.m. PT. The two women's basketball teams will faceoff at 3 p.m. PT. as the first part of that day's doubleheader. The CUI women have won four straight and enter this weekend's tilt with the Silverswords in second place in the PacWest with an impressive 8-2 conference mark.

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