IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine Eagles welcomed Northwest Nazarene to town on Thursday for their first home game of this unorthodox basketball season.

The Eagles were excited to host their first opponent of the year and this was the first home game for CUI in roughly 10 months.   However, the Nighthawks ended up getting a little bit too comfortable in CU Arena.

Dayshone Henry scored 29 points for Concordia and Dominic Hovasse added 14, but the visitors pulled away in the second half and earned an 93-84 victory on the road.

The Eagles were disappointed with the loss after they led by as many as a dozen points in the first half.  

"So many people from both universities worked hard to put this game together so it was both sad and embarrassing to compete at such a low level tonight," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "We were extremely soft mentally and need to get better."

"One positive takeaway was the play of Drew Ramirez," added Ammann. "As a freshman, he gave us a spark in the first half when we were down by eight, and then we went up 10 and he played a big part in that."  

Ramirez finished a team-best +12 on the night.  Playing for the first time in CU Arena, the new Eagle contributed seven points, three steals and two assists in just over 21 minutes of action.

CUI took a 44-42 lead in to the halftime break.  Afterwards, the Nighthawks broke through and wound up outscoring the home team by 11 points the rest of the way.

CUI senior Darius Lee (12 points) and freshman Mac Stodart (11 points) also finished in double figures.

Austin Clarke did not miss a shot and finished with eight points to help the cause off the bench.

The Eagles were planning on traveling to Vanguard on Saturday at 3 p.m. for a game that was just added to the schedule. However, Vanguard announced on Friday that this game has now been canceled as a precaution due to COVID-19 testing.

CUI will open up PacWest Conference play next week. Point Loma hosts CUI on Friday, Jan 22 at 5 p.m. and then the Eagles will host the Sea Lions on Saturday, Jan 23 at the same scheduled time. Both games are part of doubleheaders with the women's teams from both schools scheuled to play game one of that double dip at 2 p.m. each day.

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