IRVINE, Calif. – Jackson Harding scored a career-high 15 points, Connor Gleason added 13 and Concordia University Irvine shot a sizzling 59 percent from three-point land to top Dominican on Saturday in convincing fashion, 72-53.

CUI shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and finished the contest shooting 59 percent from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles drained 13 triples on 22 attempts from downtown.

Conversely, the entire team was very proud of how it held Dominican to just 1-for-16 shooting on threes.

The Golden Eagles soared out to a double-digit lead midway through the first half and never looked back.

Jackson Tucker and Kobe Sanders combined to score the first 11 points of the game for Concordia when the game was still up for grabs. Then Harding entered shortly before the second media timeout and immediately sank a triple to put CUI in front.

The Green and Gold then opened up a huge lead thanks to a 13-2 run that made it 24-15. A few possessions later, the Golden Eagles strung together a 9-0 run before the halftime buzzer to firmly make it 38-24 at the break.

Harding hit four of his five treys in the first half to help give the team a huge boost.

"We were super pumped for (Jacko)," said senior guard Connor Gleason. "It was so great seeing him catch fire from three! The team was ecstatic seeing all those threes go in and we were just as excited about the defense."

Seven different Golden Eagles made at least one trey, including Jonah Tolmaire and Brody Collins each sinking one in the second half. Charlie Dalton also hit two triples and finished in double digits with 11 points.

CUI returns home for a huge rivalry game with Biola on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest at 5 p.m.  Both Concordia basketball teams upended Biola in the first doubleheader between the two teams in December over in La Mirada. 

CLICK HERE for the updated PacWest men's basketball standings

With the top seeds in the conference tournament still up for grabs, every win is crucial from this point forward.

CUI has now won three of its last five games and has kept pace with Biola as two of the top five teams in the PacWest standings.

CLICK HERE for the updated CUI men's basketball schedule