LA MIRADA, Calif. – In an impressive start to the season, the Concordia Golden Eagles opened the regular season with an 81-74 victory over Cal State San Marcos at a neutral site.
While wearing their fresh new gold jerseys for the first time, CUI's defense was its calling card on Friday night. The Golden Eagles came up with 11 steals against the Cougars, and scored 17 points off of 16 Cougar turnovers.
Sophomore wing Jackson Tucker showed confidence attacking the basket and muscled his way to a team-high 18 points. He was a game-best +14 while on the court and collected four assists and three steals.
Newcomer Tim Adetukasi added 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds. His thunderous dunk after a steal late in the first half helped the Golden Eagles open up a 40-34 advantage at the break.
Meanwhile, freshman Charlie Dalton scored 15 points and hauled in four rebounds to help the cause. Fellow first-year forward Jackson Harding made his presence felt with 11 points, which included a fun and-one in the second half.
The Golden Eagles went a solid 24-for-28 at the free throw line, which was good for 86 percent from the charity stripe. Dalton was 8-for-10 at the line and Tucker wound up 7-for-8 while making a bunch down the stretch.
It all added up to a great debut for this year's team – and the squad's brand new gold jerseys.
"The gold jerseys were pretty tough, we gotta wear those at home now," said Kobe Sanders, who also shot 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. "I thought we played well, but we can't just be happy about the win, we have to come out again (tomorrow) and be ready to play."
The non-conference game was hosted at nearby Biola University, who is also playing Cal State San Marcos and Cal State Los Angeles in a span of two days in the PacWest/CCAA Crossover Challenge.
CUI will face Cal State Los Angeles in a battle of the Golden Eagles on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Cal State LA defeated Biola on Friday so both pairs of Golden Eagles will be looking for their second win in two days.
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