Facing the daunting task of taking on an undefeated Concordia team on the road, PLNU had some early success and made a late run, before falling to the NAIA #2 Eagles 64-55 on Tuesday night in Irvine.

PLNU jumped out to a 9-3 lead and led 11-9 in the early going, but the Eagles swiftly responded, showing why they are ranked among the nation's best, by running off 20 unanswered points to lead 29-11.

Terrence Worthy did much of the damage, causing havoc on both ends of the court, and hitting four three-pointers in that span. Worthy, an All-GSAC point guard who has caused the Sea Lions problems for years, finished with a team-high 15 points.

A layup by Rhett Beal with 4:30 left in the first half finally stopped the bleeding, but it would be nearly impossible to recover. The Sea Lions refused to be demoralized after the run though, trimming the CUI lead to 31-20 at the half.

After PLNU scored the first bucket of the second half to make it a nine-point game, the Eagles began to pull away again, extending the lead to 56-36 with 5:44 to play.

Once again, the Sea Lions would not go quietly. Fueled by some tremendous play from Beal and a few buckets from Paul Holtfrerich, PLNU would go on a 19-5 run.

Unfortunately it was too little, too late for the Sea Lions. When a three-point play by Beal cut the lead to 61-55 only 48 seconds remained. PLNU fouled, but turned the ball over on the next possession.

Beal finished with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds. James Hancock added 11 points for PLNU and Holtfrerich finished with nine.

The Sea Lions did a good job in the paint, out-rebounding the Eagles significantly by a margin of 50-23. PLNU had five players with six or more rebounds. This led to a 17-4 PLNU advantage in second-chance points.

Always known around the GSAC as a defensive juggernaught, the Eagle defense was in top form Tuesday night. PLNU turned the ball over 25 times, leading to 31 CUI points. The Sea Lions did not make a single three-point basket.

Worthy's 15 led the Eagles. Cameron Glidden added 13 points and five steals in the win.

With the loss the Sea Lions fall to 5-10 on the year, 2-5 in the GSAC. Concordia is now 16-0, 6-0 in conference play.

PLNU returns home to host #22-ranked Westmont this Saturday night in Golden Gym at 7:30.

-Jeremiah Wood