HONOLULU — Defending PacWest Champion Hawai'i Pacific University dropped its first conference contest of the young season as Concordia Irvine came away with a 73-66 win on Saturday afternoon at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena.
The Sharks (4-4, 1-1) fell for the third time in the last four games, while the Eagles (8-2, 2-0) won their fifth straight contest.
"We had way too many turnovers, especially in a lull in the second half," said HPU head coach
Darren Vorderbruegge. "We can't do that, and get outrebounded, and expect to win."
Senior forward
Niksha Federico of San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic, led the way for HPU as he just missed another double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard
Darnell Bettis of Los Angeles, Calif./University added 10 points with four assists.
Concordia Irvine was paced by Tad Dufelmeier with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists, that included him going 11-of-11 from the free throw line. Brian Chambers added 13 points, JT Roach popped for 10 points as did Tyler Lacour-Brown who also chalked up eight boards.
HPU shot 51 percent from the floor (27-of-53), but posted a season-low six 3-point field goals in going 6-of-16 (38 percent) from the arc. The Sharks also hit only 6-of-12 from the foul line. The Eagles connected on 46 percent from the field (22-of-48) and 3-of-18 (17 percent) from the arc. The Eagles took advantage of the charity stripe, connecting on 26-of-30 free throws (87 percent).
The first half was tight with the teams swapping the lead six times with five ties in the opening 20 minutes. The Sharks overcame a one-point deficit with a 7-0 run keyed by Federico's only 3-pointer of the game and HPU didn't trail the rest of the half. A 3-pointer by redshirt freshman
David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark gave the Sharks a 9-point lead and HPU carried a 36-29 advantage at the half.
HPU kept up its play to start the second half, regaining a nine-point lead at 46-37 with 14:38 to play on a 3-pointer from junior forward
Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain State.
With the Sharks up by eight a minute later, the Eagles made a move.
Lacour-Brown nailed a 3-ball to start 7-0 run and pull within a point. The teams swapped goals before CUI got a layup from Dufelmeier and a traditional 3-point play from Geoff Gerlach to start the Eagles on an 11-1 run and grab a 60-53 lead with 5:50 to play.
A driving layup by junior
Nikola Urli of Zagreb, Croatia, started an HPU 7-0 run that tied the game at 60 when Federico got a baseline layup with 4:20 to go.
The next possession, CUI's Chambers answered with his only 3 of the contest to give the Eagles the lead for good.
HPU got back within two at 66-64 on Bettis' layup with 1:41 left, but after getting a stop, turned the ball over to the Eagles and Dufelmeier buried a 3-pointer to erase the Sharks momentum. The Eagles held serve to win 73-66.
After breaking for fall final examinations, the Sharks will resume play next Saturday night when they visit McCabe Gym to meet cross-town rival Chaminade in a 7 :30 p.m. contest.
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