IRVINE, Calif. – When the Concordia University Irvine men's basketball team has its full complement of players, it has proved it can be a very dangerous squad to deal with this season.

The Eagles reminded the visiting Vulcans from the University of Hawai'i Hilo how tricky they can be as five different players hit at least one three-pointer on Monday night.

After playing from behind the past two contests, the Eagles (8-7, 5-4 PacWest) raced out to a double-digit lead and confidently saw the scoreboard read 47-33 in favor of the home team at intermission.

However, the Vulcans (10-6, 6-4 PacWest) rallied with a furious 15-0 run to tie the game at 61 midway through the second half.

Luckily for the Eagles, the Sanders brothers stepped up and stopped that surge to put the home team back in front. In a span of about four minutes, Kobe Sanders hit two threes and a jumper, while his older brother Jalen Sanders converted a layup off a pass from Rodrick McCobb. Another bucket by Joshua Caston was part of a 12-4 run for the Green and Gold that put CUI ahead to stay.

Down the stretch, Wayne Arnold put this one to bed with a couple of clutch threes of his own. The Eagles converted enough free throws the rest of the way to hang on for the 86-84 victory.

Wayne Arnold finished with a game-high 25 points and shot 45 percent from the field (9-for-20 overall) while draining half of his three-point attempts (6-for-12).

Kayle Knuckles helped ignite the offense in the first half. He and Kobe Sanders each swished a trey late in the first to help the Eagles build some momentum.  Sanders then fed Knuckles with a no-look dime on the next possession for a sweet fast break bucket that pushed the CUI lead to 35-27.

Sanders finished with 19 points and Knuckles added 11 by the final buzzer. Both Sanders brothers and Rodrick McCobb all had four assists which was a testament to their passing in this game.

"Even though we are still quite a ways from healthy, that is the healthiest we've been since the start of the season," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann after the game. "Factoring in all the illness and injuries we've had over the last month, I could not be more proud of the effort our guys put forth to get this done tonight.  Hilo is really good and all credit to our players for a great week of preparation. (The Vulcans) have a lot of guys that are extremely hard to guard and we had to make a lot of plays on both ends to get that done tonight." 

CUI returns to action this Thursday, Jan. 27 with Chaminade in town before welcoming Hawaii Pacific to CU Arena on Saturday. CUI Athletics will be honoring this year's Hall of Fame induction class on Saturday, which includes the 2012 NAIA National Championship team that was coached by Ken Ammann.

For the current spectator policy for CUI home basketball games CLICK HERE.

A reminder that masks are required to be worn indoors at all times per the California state mandate.

CLICK HERE for the CUI men's basketball schedule