HONOLULU, Hawai'i – After falling behind by seven points in the early going, the Concordia University Irvine men's basketball team got back on track and pulled away from Hawaii Pacific to notch a 67-58 victory. With the win, CUI finished its three-game road trip with a 2-1 mark.
 
Senior Jamel White paced the Eagles in multiple categories with 15 points and four assists while classmate Kyle Gray chipped in with 14 points. Fellow senior Rob McCoy added 12 points and Cameron English supplied nine on 4-of-5 shooting.
 
CUI trailed 15-8 midway through the first half at the Shark Tank before receiving a big boost from senior Kyle Gray off the bench. The Eagles reeled off a 13-0 run with Gray scoring 10 of those points in a quick burst that included a pair of treys. 
 
HPU briefly regained the lead a couple plays later, but English provided a spark by converting a layup and a three-point play to put the Green and Gold in front by a count of 31-28 at the break.

"HPU really came out and set the tone early with their effort," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "Fortunately we were able to match it and catch back up into the game and take a small lead into halftime. The game was a scrap from start to finish so it felt good to come out on top."
 
The Eagles (15-6, 9-3 PacWest) started the second half on a tear and opened up a double-digit lead thanks to an 11-3 run. Jalen Sanders, Andre Green and McCoy all hit buckets in the paint and after an offensive rebound and putback by Kayle Knuckles, HPU decided to call a timeout trailing CUI 41-31. CUI's defense also held the Sharks to zero field goals during the first 3:30 of the second half to help create that separation.
 
The Sharks (9-11, 7-7 PacWest) narrowed the gap little by little and were within one point of tying the game with about seven minutes to play, but the Eagles never gave up the lead in the second half. White scored eight of his 15 points in the final three minutes and knocked down six free throws down the stretch.
 
"Jamel White had another great night and played some of his best basketball all season long in our two wins here (in Hawaii)," added Ammann.

"Tonight we played team basketball and figured out how to get stops in clutch moments when we needed to get stops," explained McCoy.

The contest was a possible postseason preview. Hawai'i Pacific is contending with Hawai'i Hilo for the sixth spot in the PacWest standings while CUI finished the evening in third place behind Point Loma and APU.
 
The Eagles return to the court this Saturday, Feb. 1 for their much-anticipated rematch with Point Loma on homecoming weekend. The men's game is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest which begins at 5:30 p.m.
 
For the full CUI men's basketball schedule, click here.