IRVINE, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball could not make the necessary defensive stops falling 72-59 to Concordia University Irvine on Saturday night at CU Arena. 

Sophomore forward Christian Futch led all scorers with 20 points to go with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Penguins (6-13, 2-11 PacWest). Sophomore point guard Christopher Williams II and graduate forward Ezra Talbert each ended the night with 11 points. Williams went 3 of 4 from 3-point range and grabbed three rebounds.

Brian Chambers did it all for the Eagles (15-7, 11-2 PacWest), recording 19 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Kyle Gray added 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

CUI ran out to an 11-4 lead over the Penguins in the first six minutes as Chambers grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds to help him score seven during the stretch. Sam Averbuck knocked down a 3-pointer and then was the beneficiary of a Futch pass as he cut down the lane to trim the deficit to 15-11. 

Ezra Talbert got loose in transition and threw down a dunk to bring the bench to its feet and give the Penguins some momentum. Talbert followed by finding Futch in the key for a shot and the Penguins kept it close, trailing 23-19 with 7:20 left in the half. 

After trading points for the next several minutes, Gray found Cameron English for a transition 3-pointer and then followed up with a layup to give the Eagles their first double-digit lead of the half at 33-22 with 3:11 on the clock. The teams then continued to trade points and CUI took the 37-25 lead into the break.

Concordia started the second half on the same foot as Kayle Knuckles and Gray partnered on a pair of 3-pointers to push the lead to 14 in the first two minutes. The Penguins answered with a 5-0 run to get back within single digits after Williams II drained a shot from behind the arc and Futch added a tip-in to make it 43-34 at the first media timeout.

The Eagles came out of the timeout on a tear as five quick points from Knuckles sparked a 15-4 run and that pushed the lead to 58-38 at the halfway point of the half. Futch continued to battle inside the paint scoring six of the next nine points for the Penguins, closing the gap to 13 and forcing the Eagles to take a timeout with eight minutes remaining. 

Dominican trimmed the deficit to 11 after Talbert drained a 3-pointer for the Penguins with 2:25 left on the clock, but the Penguins were unable to get any closer and CUI closed it out from the free throw line.

The Penguins return home to the Conlan Center on Wednesday as they take on Notre Dame De Namur at 7:30 p.m. PST. Dominican Athletics will be celebrating Staff and Faculty Appreciation Night, and honoring Dominican Athletics team physician, Dr. Goltz at halftime of the men's basketball game. Live video and stats will also be available online.