IRVINE, Calif. – Five Golden Eagles scored in double figures Thursday evening but the visiting Dominican Penguins spoiled a solid effort by the home team in the PacWest Conference opener for both squads.

Point guard Kobe Sanders led Concordia in scoring with a season-high 16 points.  He also handed out four assists and probed the Dominican defense to open up shots for teammates.

Freshman Jackson Tucker finished with a dozen points and made some timely defensive plays to help earn extra possessions for the home team.  Meanwhile, Lance Coleman II contributed 11 points and still leads the team in scoring with 22.2 points per game. The CSUN grad transfer has registered double figures in all six games and is shooting a blistering 46 percent from downtown.

Bryce Fitzgerald chipped in with 10 points and led CUI with seven rebounds. Cameron Fini added 10 points off the bench and Kendall McHugh was a team-best +14 while handing out three dimes. 

After Dominican scored the first five points of the contest and opened up an early 13-2 lead, Concordia went on a 13-4 run to climb back into the game. Fini fed Lance Coleman II twice for a three-pointer during that first half surge to help erase that double-digit deficit.  A layup by Fitzgerald off a nifty pass from Sanders put CUI in front for the first time, 27-25. 

That basket opened the door for CUI to post a 10-0 run to close the half and go into intermission up 35-27.  Fitzgerald scored eight of those points to give his team a boost.

To Dominican's credit, the Penguins did not skate away from the challenge at the start of the second half. The visitors got back into the game and outrebounded the Golden Eagles 34-15 overall. Dominican ultimately escaped with a 71-62 victory.

"The guys really played hard and I was really proud of the guys, especially their first half effort," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "Digging out of a double-digit deficit and fighting back and taking a decent lead by halftime, I was really excited about that and for us.  It made it all the more frustrating to not get it done in the second half.  It was a dogfight the rest of the way and we just didn't make enough plays at the end."

"When we get stops, we go on runs," added Ammann. "We can't get outrebounded by 20 in a game like that. We had a lot of possessions where we really, really fought, and then just didn't come up with the rebound."

Concordia will look to rebound this Saturday, Dec. 3 at 4:30 p.m. against Academy of Art.  The men's game follows the women's matinee against the Urban Knights which begins at 2 p.m.

CLICK HERE for the full CUI men's basketball schedule