IRVINE, Calif. – Trailing by as many as 17 points on Thursday, the Concordia University Irvine men's basketball team nearly pulled off an amazing come-from-behind win against a frisky Chaminade squad.

The visiting Silverswords came out shooting the ball extremely well in the first half and built a 45-31 lead by halftime. But CUI turned the tide by attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line after intermission. 

Concordia erased that 17-point deficit and took the lead when Javier Gallardo made two free throws to make it 65-64.  During that incredible 24-6 run midway through the second half, CUI converted multiple drives to the basket thanks to Tim Adetukasi, Charlie Dalton and Freddie Dybala. 

Concordia guard Connor Gleason helped CUI get back in the game with back-to-back triples during that big run.  He also came up with a steal near mid-court and drove for a tough breakaway layup while getting fouled to the delight of the CUI bench.

The Capistrano Valley High School alum poured in a career-high 24 points and shot an astonishing 10-for-13 (77 percent) from the floor. Gleason also made three of his four shots from downtown. He has now scored in double figures in five of the last seven games and is one of four Golden Eagles averaging at least 10 points per game.

Despite an impressive charge by CUI, Chaminade was able to regain the lead and ultimately fend off the Golden Eagles down the stretch, 82-74.

Tim Adetukasi added 17 points and did most of his damage at the free throw line and at the rim on driving layups. Both teams made a concerted effort to score close to the basket. CUI finished with 42 points in the paint, and Chaminade was right there with 38 in that area.

Another huge factor that helped the visitors was their rebounding edge, as Chaminade won the battle of the boards, 37-22.  The 'Swords shot 57 percent and drained eight treys (44 percent from downtown).

"First half we were a little sluggish and Chaminade was definitely hungry." said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "They've had some really tough losses and it showed how hungry they were. You can't let them be comfortable out there, (because) they're too good. They are scary to go against and so we needed to be at the top of our game and we weren't."

"Our success and failures are as a team," added Ammann. "We're not going to win one or two games if one guy or two guys play well or if one or two guys don't. We're going to win games or not get it done because we do it together and that's the beauty of this team. That makes it tough sometimes if we're not quite on edge and we don't have that pop."

CUI finished its unorthodox five-game home stand over Christmas break with a 3-2 mark. Next up is a road affair at Fresno Pacific on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

The Golden Eagles will be back home again on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. against Westmont following the women's contest. It will be the first time the two teams square off on the basketball court since Westmont joined the PacWest Conference this school year and completed the transition from the NAIA level to being a new NCAA DII university.

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