HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University started PacWest Conference play on a sour note, dropping a 71-54 decision to Concordia Irvine on Monday night at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (3-3, 0-1) never led, as the Eagles (4-3, 1-0) opened the game on a 9-1 run to hold a wire-to-wire advantage.
 
The Sharks were led by senior Rodney Hounshell of Richmond, Va./West Linn (Ore.) with 13 points to go with five rebounds, while junior Trey Chapman of Healdsburg, Calif./Healdsburg and sophomore Jakob Kimura of Honolulu/Punahou each chipped in seven points. Senior Domantas Sakickas of Kedainiai, Lithuania grabbed nine rebounds with six points.
 
The Eagles Josh Caston just missed a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds. Wayne Arnold, who entered the game leading NCAA Division II with a 27.7 scoring average, tallied 22 points.
 
The Sharks shot 38 percent from the floor (23-of-60), but only 4-of-26 (15 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU made 4-of-8 (50 percent) from the free throw line. The Eagles connected on 44 percent (28-of-64) from the floor, including 11-of-31 (36 percent) from the arc. CUI hit 4-of-6 (67 percent) from the charity stripe. The Sharks and Eagles both pulled down 38 rebounds, while CUI turned the ball over 10 times to HPU's 14.
 
Concordia built the lead with a 9-1 run before the Sharks clawed back to pull within three at 15-12 on a layup by graduate transfer Roman Young of Wichita, Kan./Sunrise Christian with 9:35 remaining in the half. CUI though quickly answered with a 3-pointer from Cam Fini to end the threat. CUI closed the half on a 7-2 run to claim a 30-19 lead at intermission.
 
CUI came back for the second half with a 10-0 run as part of a 17-2 run in building a 26-point lead and never looked back on the way to the 71-54 triumph.
 
The Sharks host Point Loma in PacWest action on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., following the women's tip at 4:30, at The Shark Tank.