SAN DIEGO—The first game of the 2025-26 Pacific West Conference men’s basketball tournament was almost like four games in one.

When it was all said and done, #6 seed Concordia knocked off #3 Fresno Pacific, 70-60 on Thursday afternoon at Golden Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles, now 16-13, will advance to Friday’s semifinals against #2 seed Westmont at 12:30 pm.

Fresno Pacific’s season ends at 14-15.

The contest was 40 minutes of four distinct momentum swings.

Fresno Pacific came out of the locker room on fire, hitting eight of their first nine shots. They had a 15-8 lead six minutes into the game before the momentum flipped.

The Golden Eagle defense then clamped down on the Sunbirds, who wouldn’t hit another field goal attempt in the first half, missing 11 straight. Concordia meanwhile caught fire with runs of 15-2, 17-3 and ultimately 24-5 to take a 38-23 lead at the break.

Nicholas Corbett made all five of his shots for Concordia to lead all players with 14 points in the first 20 minutes.

Concordia scored the first basket of the second half (40-23) to take 17-point margin, but FPU then flipped the switch. They hit 8 of their next 13 shots while CUI went cold. FPU cut the lead 45-40 on a Amar Hot trey and a few moments later it waas four (47-43) on Hugo Gonzalez Garcia’s three, Garcia hit another at 9 minutes to give FPU its first lead since the first half, 48-47.

FPU would lead 52-50, but Concordia grabbed the final momentum swing. Kaden Minter’s trey would give the Golden Eagles a 53-52 margin and CUI began to roll from there. Corbett and Jackson Tucker capped a 11-0 run with baskets to give their team a 61-52 lead and they wouldn’t trail again.

Corbett finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Golden Eagles. MaCarhy Morris had 15 points and five assists, Marcellus Edwards added 14 and Minter had ten.  Isaac Peralta led FPU with 17 points and eight rebounds.

‘’We did a good job fighting back after a rough start,” said Concordia coach Ken Ammann. “We have learned some hard lessons over the year, we are battle tested. Our players responded well to adversity.”

The Sunbirds were playing without their leading scorer, Seth Brown, who was out with an injury.

“I thought we looked a little overwhelmed by the moment early without Seth,” said FPU head coach CJ Haydock. “But we had the grit to come back and I am proud of that. We were right there, just didn’t have enough shots fall late in the game.

“Parity in this league is at an all-time high. Concordia is a really good team, and there were teams that didn’t make it here that are worthy. I am proud of what we accomplished this year and of who we are.”