COSTA MESA, Calif. – Playing in Vanguard University's brand new gymnasium for the first time, Concordia University Irvine sprinted out to a 21-5 lead on Wednesday night and never looked back

CUI scored the first eight points of the contest mostly by attacking the rim and converting layups. Then the Golden Eagles caught fire from behind the arc.

Kevin Haupt nailed a triple, Joseph Locandro knocked down two treys and Connor Gleason joined the party by sinking a pair of treys with the shot clock winding down. Later in the first half, Kaden Minter drained two deep three-pointers to protect Concordia's double-digit lead.

CUI led 44-29 at the break. The Golden Eagles shot a sizzling 7-for-12 from behind the arc in the first half.

And the hot shooting continued in the second half. Minter sank two more three-pointers to extend CUI's lad to 52-36 by the first media timeout. Jayce Catchings also had a jaw-dropping block to fend off a Vanguard drive.

Vanguard made a late rally and cut the lead to single digits but CUI did enough to withstand every blow and held on for a solid 87-80 victory.

Minter finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds and shot a blistering 6-for-7 from downtown on threes. Catchings helped the cause with a double-double of his own with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Catchings was also a solid 9-for-12 from the charity stripe.

Jaden Henderson added a dozen points and Gleason and Locandro each finished with eight apiece.

CUI ended the night shooting 59 percent on threes (13-for-22) and outrebounded Vanguard by a wide margin – dominating the glass by a count of 47-20.

"That was the most poised we've been all season in terms of responding and stopping the other team's runs," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "We made every big shot we had to make and that was really good to see."

Concordia makes the trek to Santa Barbara this Saturday for a rematch with Westmont. The Golden Eagles will try to sweep the season series with the Warriors after winning the first meeting back in Irvine earlier this season.

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