SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma men's basketball team was edged out by PacWest Conference rival Concordia, 92-84, on Saturday, Jan. 21.
 
The Sea Lion are now 10-8 on the season and 6-5 in the PacWest. The win moves Concordia to 10-8 and 6-4 in conference.
 
This was a rematch that Point Loma and head coach Ryan Looney had circled on their calendars since the teams met back in early December. Coach Looney was looking to avenge the largest loss of his 13-year coaching career (83-63), and the Sea Lions were looking to show they had the grit necessary to hang in against one of the most tenacious defenses in the NCAA West Region.
 
While Point Loma was able to shoot the ball much better in this time around (52.0 percent), the turnovers again proved costly. PLNU turned the ball over 20 times, compared to just 11 for CUI. That allowed Concordia to shoot 13 more times, (and make seven more baskets) than the Sea Lions in the contest.
 
"They out-toughed us in a number of different areas which led to the difference in the score," Point Loma head coach Ryan Looney explained. "At the end of the day we were trying to make our rebounding margin (33-28) greater than their turnover margin, and at the end of the day it didn't happen. They got to shoot it more, and they won the game."
 
PLNU hung in the game by going 24-of-28 from the free throw line. That was just one short of the Sea Lions' season-high for free throws made, and allowed them to outscore the Eagles by 10 from the charity stripe. However, Concordia was able to neutralize that advantage for Point Loma by knocking down 12-of-22 shots from behind the arc.
 
"I am discouraged by our competitiveness level," Looney continued. "It is not anywhere near where it needs to be in order to be a great NCAA Division II basketball team. We have had moments of toughness, and we have some guys that are competitive, but overall as a group we are not anywhere close to where we need to be, and that is on me. It is my job to bring that out of them."
 
Tad Dufelmeier had a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds to lead four Concordia student-athletes in double-figures. He was 8-of-14 from the field, and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. He also had six assists and two steals.
 
Trevor Peterson and Mike Planeta paced PLNU with 13 points apiece. Peterson added five rebounds and four assists. Planeta had a pair of steals to go with his four rebounds. Skyler White came off the bench to knock down all three of this 3-point attempts to match his season-high with 11 points. Zach Burnham also posted 11 points as he went 2-for-2 from the field and 7-of-7 at the free throw line. Josh Rodriguez scored in double-figures for the 10th straight game. He put up 10 points to go along with a game-high eight assists.
 
Concordia led most of the contest but a run from Point Loma got it within two (77-75) with 3:46 remaining. However, after Concordia was able to make a pair of free throws, PLNU turned the ball over on consecutive possessions allowing the Eagles to extend their two-point lead to nine in just over 90 seconds. Point Loma would cut the lead back to four points with 49 second remaining but would not get any closer as Concordia knocked down all four of their late free throws.
 
The Sea Lions will continue their season next Saturday (Jan. 28) when they host Academy of Art at 4 p.m. This will be the second game of a six-game homestand for Point Loma.