HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University held tough for most of the game before Concordia Irvine went on a 13-4 run to take control down the stretch as CUI ripped HPU 80-56 in PacWest Conference play on Thursday night at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
 
The Eagles (13-6, 9-1) won for the 12th time in the last 14 games, as the Sharks (4-11, 1-9) fell for the six straight games.
 
The Sharks were led by senior Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain State with 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Sophomore Lorenze Gordon-Haynes of Columbus, Ohio/Africentric scored 10 points off the bench and led the game with three steals. Junior Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove posted eight points and seven rebounds.
 
Kayle Knuckles hit five 3-pointers for Concordia Irvine on his way to leading all scorers with 17 points. Robert Taylor collected 12 points with three boards and Cameron English 10 points. Brian Chambers came close to a triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
 
HPU hit 21-of-53 field goal attempts (40 percent), and 5-of-13 (39 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks made 9-of-15 (60 percent) from the foul line. Concordia shot 47 percent (32-of-68) from the floor, including 10-of 27 (37 percent) from the arc. The Eagles connected on 6-of-8 (75 percent) from the free throw line. HPU outrebounded CUI 39-34, but the Sharks turned the ball over 18 times to seven for the Eagles.
 
Concordia Irvine jumped out to a 10-point first half advantage before the Sharks rallied with a 15-5 run to knot the game at 28-all on a pair of free throws by sophomore David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark. After two quick buckets by the Eagles, HPU got a 3-pointer from Blain and a layup from Gordon-Haynes put the Sharks on top briefly 33-32 with 4:38 to play in the half.
 
CUI rallied to close the half with a 40-35 lead.
 
The Eagles built their lead to 12 early in the second half before the Sharks cut the differential to eight on a layup by senior Spencer Vering of San Diego/Mater Dei Catholic made it 53-45 with 12:04 remaining.
 
HPU held defensively but couldn't convert in its next possession and Taylor beat the Sharks down floor for a layup to start a 21-5 run to put the game away as CUI went on to the 80-56 final.
 
The Sharks are off until heading for a two-game trip to the Bay Area, starting against Notre Dame de Namur next Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. HST (7:30 PST) following the women's game between the teams.