True Grit

Thursday, February 23

Irvine, Calif.

7:30 PM

California Baptist University

25-2,17-2PacWest

Concordia (CA)

17-11,13-7PacWes

California Baptist

CUI

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

2/23/2017 9:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sammi Wellman, Director of Sports Information

IRVINE, Calif. — For the second week in a row, No. 5-ranked California Baptist University had to dig deep in the waning minutes of the game. It came down to the final seconds, but the Lancers showed true grit to hold on for an 82-80 victory over Concordia University of Irvine Thursday night.

CBU improves to 25-2 overall with its fifth-straight win and stays even with Hawai'i Pacific in the race for the PacWest regular-season title. Both the Lancers and Sharks boast a 17-2 conference mark with one last PacWest game to go. If HPU drops its final game at Chaminade on Saturday and the Lancers beat Point Loma, CBU would claim the championship outright. If both teams win, they would share the crown. The Eagles end their season with a 17-11 overall record and 13-7 PacWest mark.

After battling an injury, Michael Smith was back to his form and led the Lancers with 19 points. With the performance, the senior guard not only holds the all-time leading scorer title with CBU, but also with the PacWest.

Casey Norris followed with 16 points (5-for-9), while Kalidou Diouf added 14 points (5-for-6), despite getting in foul trouble early in the first half. Jordan Heading (4-for-9) chipped in 10 points and Jason Todd led CBU with nine boards (and nine points) to help his team out-rebound CUI 34-to-25.

The game stayed close in the early goings before the Eagles took a seven-point lead, 20-13, just about halfway through the first half.

De'jon Davis sparked a response with a layup off a Norris assist, drawing a foul in the process. The freshman rounded the play up to three before Norris knocked down a deep three to put the Lancers within one, 20-19.

Marquise Mosley scored five-straight points in the middle of an 11-0 run to give CBU back the lead. Back-to-back triples from Todd and Heading capped the run to put the Lancers up 30-24.

Concordia battled back and pulled within three, 32-29, but Todd made a run under the basket and turned on a Mosley assist to keep momentum in CBU's favor. The Lancers would carry that into halftime, boasting a 36-31 cushion at the break.

Both teams came out strong to start the second half, each shooting over 80-percent from the floor in the first four minutes, but CBU fought to hold onto its edge.

The Eagles managed to catch some fire and even the game up at 48-48 with 14:36 left to play, forcing a CBU timeout. CUI took the lead, 56-52, with 11 minutes to go.

With plenty of time left on the clock, the Lancers didn't panic. The visitors pulled within one, 62-61, after Smith scored five-straight points.

Heading down the stretch trailing by five, 70-65, CBU dug deep. Smith finished two chances at the charity stripe, but the Eagles kept their distance, 73-67.

The Lancers continued to plug away and pulled back within a possession, 78-75, with under two minutes to go as Todd sank two free throws. Todd followed it up by grabbing a big defensive board and Diouf drew a foul as he posted up under the basket, making both shots at the line, 78-77.

CBU carried that momentum, making big stops on defense to take back the lead, 79-78, with less than 40 seconds remaining on the clock. Concordia tried to foul to get the ball back, but Smith, Diouf and Heading made free throws to keep the Lancers in front, 82-80, with less than five seconds to go.

The Eagles called a timeout and ran the length of the court, but the shot didn't fall to give the Lancers the 82-80 victory.

CBU closes out the regular season at home on Saturday, hosting Point Loma for the Last Time in Van Dyne, tipping off at 8:00 p.m. on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.