HONOLULU, Hawaii – Searching for their third straight win in conference play, the Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles got off to a promising start against Chaminade on Thursday evening.

Bryce Fitzgerald and Lance Coleman II each made two buckets to give CUI an early 9-7 lead.  The Golden Eagles battled throughout the first half and overcame some early turnovers but the Silverswords were able to capitalize with a few extra possessions to open up a 10-point lead by the halftime break.

Five different Golden Eagles sank at least one trey in this contest, including Kendall McHugh and freshman Jackson Tucker.  However, Chaminade did defend the three-point line well and hampered CUI's ability to get comfortable from long range.  CUI ended up shooting just 6-for-23 from downtown (26 percent). Conversely, the 'Swords got hot in the second half and went 7-of-9 on triples after intermission, hitting at a 77 percent clip.  Chaminade ended up claiming the 77-51 win.

"Our guys prepared well all week so it's a shame we played so poorly on offense," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "We don't have a lot of firepower so we absolutely have to take care of the ball better. We didn't score well enough to commit 14 turnovers in the first half like that."

Fitzgerald led the Golden Eagles with 13 points and seven rebounds. Coleman II and Kobe Sanders each finished with 11 points.

CUI was coming off a hard-fought victory over Hawaii Pacific just 48 hours earlier.  The men from Irvine fell to 3-5 in PacWest play and look to regroup against Hawaii Hilo on Saturday to finish out the three-game road trip.

CLICK HERE for the updated CUI men's basketball schedule