IRVINE, Calif. - The CUI men's basketball team edged out the Silverswords of Chaminade University Hawai'i in an event filled night that no Eagles fan will forget.

Concordia came out on top with the score 72-70.

In a night that saw the CUI baseball team welcoming their newest member, six-year-old Liam Katz from Team Impact, and the Concordia softball team PacWest Conference Champion Ceremony, the Eagles men's basketball team put icing on the cake by completing a late game comeback to steal the win from under the Silverswords.

The battle began with the Green and Gold coming out strong forcing turnovers and getting easy transition buckets by way of senior forward Rob McCoy. The Chicago native came out red hot and aggressive getting a steal that led to a ferocious dunk and a few plays later he knocked down a 3-pointer to force a CUH timeout.

After the break, the Silverswords settled down and controlled the pace of the game which pulled favor into their hands. Chaminade's guard Kendall Small got into a groove and led the Silverswords into the halftime break 39-38 over the Eagles.

With the second half action underway, both squads came out aggressive with PacWest Conference standings in mind. The winner of the game would be placed in third place of the standings heading into the final stretch of conference play.

The traveling Hawai'i squad had the Eagles against the ropes for most of the half, leading the Concordia Eagles by 10 points with 5:23 remaining. But junior guard Darius Lee and senior Kyle Gray had other plans in mind for the Silverswords.

"I was very focused on getting stops and helping the team in any way possible on the defensive end," said Gray. "I am always trying to stay ready to make plays. Everyone on the team trusts each other to do so and that gives everyone more confidence."

Gray did make big plays for the Eagles getting stops on the defensive end as well as hitting a 3-pointer to bring the game within one score with less than one-minute on the game clock. 

Desperately needing a turnover, the Green and Gold found a way trapping an inbound pass, forcing a travel which led to the Eagles with the ball down just one point and about 25 seconds remaining.   

It was Lee's time to shine. The San Diego City transfer calmly read the defense, got to his sweet spot, elevated over the defense and sunk the go ahead basket to give the Eagles the 71-70 lead.

"The play was originally for Jamel, but i saw his man heavily denying him the ball," said Lee. "I then faced up to the basket and went 1-on-1. I felt like we wanted the game more, and we found a way to get it done."

After the basket by Lee, the Silverswords guard went down the court and saw a lane to the rim that was met by a plethora of CUI defenders. The shot went up and off the rim to Kayle knuckles who was fouled and sent to the line. Knuckles missed the first free throw and sunk the second to seal the game 72-70.

"This was one of the craziest comebacks I can remember," said head coach Ken Ammann. "Both teams really needed that win, so I feel for Chaminade for how hard they battled and defended. But, I couldn't be more proud of the way we hung in there and found a way to come out on top at the end. It was an incredible last couple minutes getting steals, rebounds, and converting enough to somehow pull off the win."

The Eagles will look to excite the crowd again on Monday, Feb. 17th at 7:30 p.m. in the CU Arena against Dominican University.

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