IRVINE, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University played catch-up all game as Concordia Irvine claimed a 84-68 PacWest Conference victory at CU Arena Wednesday night.
 
The Sharks (9-14, 7-10) fell for the fourth straight game to drop to seventh in the league race. The Eagles (18-7, 12-4) won its third straight to stay alone in third place.
 
The Sharks were led by senior Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove with 21 points, while sophomore Jacob Foy of Newcastle, Australia/St. Francis Xavier added 10 points and led HPU with eight rebounds. Redshirt freshman Colton Martin of Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound also scored 10 points.
 
The Eagles collected 17 points off the bench from Darius Lee, who also led CUI with seven rebounds. Jamel White popped for 15 points with six assists, while Austin Clarke tallied 12 points and Robert McCoy added 11 points with three blocked shots.
 
HPU hit 26-of-60 shots from the field (43 percent), but just 3-of-18 (17 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks were 13-of-17 (77 percent) from the foul line. CUI connected on 28-of-58 shots (48 percent) from the floor, 9-of-21 (43 percent) from the arc. The Eagles made 19-of-27 shots (70 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU outrebounded CUI 37-to-33, but suffered 19 turnovers to the Eagles 11.
 
The Sharks battled through the first four minutes, tying the game three times with the last coming on a Blain jumper with 16:13 left in the first half. Following the first media timeout, the Eagles went on a 9-2 run to gain the lead they wouldn't relinquish. The Sharks used a traditional layup, free throw 3-point play by Blain to cut the lead to four midway through the half. The Eagles countered with a Clarke 3-pointer to start a 12-1 run that put CUI in a double-digit advantage that they pushed out to a 20-point first half lead. HPU trimmed the Eagles lead to 43-25 at halftime.
 
The Sharks closed the gap to a 12-point difference early in the midway through the second half as Blain led HPU on an 8-0 run to make the score 57-45 with 10:39 to play. The Eagles quickly recovered to go back on top by 20 then swapped scores with HPU. The Sharks got a jumper from redshirt freshman Elijah Martinez of Denver, Colo./Regis Jesuit with 21 seconds left to make the final 84-68.
 
HPU has a couple of days to recoup before playing the third game of its Southern California road trip. The Sharks visit Chase Gymnasium to meet Biola in league play. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. HST (3:30 p.m. PST).