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IRVINE, Calif. – NAIA No. 12-ranked Point Loma Nazarene was up by 13 but fell at fourth-ranked Concordia Tuesday night, 70-67. The Eagles (23-4, 13-4 conference) wrapped up their third-straight Golden State Athletic Conference regular season title with the win.
 
If the Sea Lions had held on against CUI, they would have been playing for their first conference title in 25 years on Saturday. PLNU (18-8, 12-6 GSAC) is currently tied with Westmont, Biola and Azusa Pacific in second place.
 
Senior Wil Bush led all scorers with 19 points on 7-12 shooting, including 5-7 from 3-point range. Fellow senior Greg Murray added 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
 
The team played without leading scorer and rebounder Rhett Beal. The senior sat out Tuesday's game with an undisclosed injury.
 
For most of the contest, it seemed as if the Sea Lions would make a run at their first conference title since the 1986-87 season. For the first several minutes, the teams traded the lead a total of seven times. With the score tied locked at 16 with 13 minutes left in the first half, a layup from Murray gave the Sea Lions a lead they would keep until midway through the second half.
 
By halftime, the Green and Gold had built themselves an eight-point lead by shooting 62 percent from the field and outrebounding the Eagles 18-12. Additionally, they held GSAC player of the week Cameron Gliddon to just two points.
 
After the break, senior Jake Johnston gave the Sea Lions a 52-41 lead with 17:29 remaining, but it was all downhill the rest of the way for PLNU.
 
The Eagles proved that they weren't ready to hand over the GSAC just yet, and they used a 16-0 run to take over the game. The Sea Lions responded with their own nine-point swing capped by a 3-pointer from Bush, but Concordia grabbed the lead for good with 6:37 to play.
 
Down just one-point with 22 seconds on the clock, the Sea Lions had one last chance to steal the game. Sophomore Hayden Lescault went up for a layup but was blocked by CUI's Simon Austin.
 
The Sea Lions had to foul, and CUI nailed both of their free throws for the 70-67 lead. PLNU had one final chance to tie with a trey, but turned the ball over.
 
Donnell Phifer paced the Eagles with 18 points, and Austin added 11 while pulling down five rebounds and blocking four shots.
 
The last PLNU win against Concordia was January 13, 2009. The Sea Lions have lost eight straight to the Eagles since. Both of this years' losses were by three points.

Point Loma is now 6-2 this season against teams ranked in the NAIA top-25.

On Saturday, the Sea Lions will host Vanguard University on Senior Day in what will also be the team's regular season finale. A win could clinch the two-seed in the GSAC tournament next week. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 pm.