SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – The second season begins Thursday night for the Concordia University Irvine men's basketball team at the PacWest Conference Championships.
CUI is the No. 5 seed in the three-day tournament and will play in the last quarterfinal game on day one against No. 4 seed Hawaii Hilo. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. PT following the other men's quarterfinal.
If the Golden Eagles (16-11, 11-9 PacWest) can fend off the Vulcans (18-12, 11-9 PacWest), they advance to play on Friday night against top-seeded Point Loma. That semifinal will also begin at 7:15 p.m. PT that evening.
CLICK HERE to go to the PacWest Tournament Central Page
Best Of Three
The two teams split their season series with each squad winning on the road.
The Golden Eagles defeated the Vulcans in the first meeting out on the islands.
CUI actually scored a season-high 92 points in that epic affair, which went to overtime after a foul was called in the final second of regulation that allowed the Vulcans to force the extra period.
There were also nine different players for Concordia that scored at least six points and
Jaden Henderson led the way with 19 in that contest. It was a very balanced effort that came down to the wire.
In the second meeting back in Southern California,
Hawaii Hilo eked out a 66-62 victory in regulation. This time, Henderson and
Joseph Locandro were the only Golden Eagles in double figures, and newcomer
Logan Cremonesi was the only other bench player besides Locandro to score for CUI.
Each time, the team that had less turnovers and outrebounded the other by a few possessions won the contest. CUI also shot over 50 percent in the team's victory, while Hawaii Hilo had the hotter hand in their road win in Irvine.
Henderson Earns All-Conference Accolades
CUI senior guard and leading scorer
Jaden Henderson was named Second Team All-PacWest on Wednesday. He averaged 15.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Among his many highlights was the night he dropped a career-high 39 points
in a road win over Menlo and when he reached a career milestone of 1,000 career points as a college student-athlete during the spring semester.
Henderson was recently named PacWest Player of the Week in February as well. He has scored in double figures in 23 of 27 games and started every time.
CLICK HERE for the updated CUI men's basketball schedule
