Feb. 7, 2008

IRVINE, Calif. -- A convincing 95-68 victory for #3-ranked Concordia (Calif.) over visiting San Diego Christian took special meaning on Tuesday evening (Feb. 5) as head coach Ken Ammann became the most successful coach in program history.

In the midst of his 7th season in charge, Ammann surpassed his predecessor, Greg Marshall, with his 184th career victory. While averaging almost 28 wins per season through his first six campaigns, Ammann is well on his way to a possible fourth 30-win season while winning at nearly a .780 clip.

"I always thought that coach Greg Marshall did such a great job here with the resources that he had and the things that were set in place," said Ammann about the man who led the Eagles to their first-ever NAIA Tournament in 1999. "He did a remarkable job and really got the program going."

Senior forward Rafael Da Silva led all scorers with 20 points for the Eagles, connecting on 9-of-11 from the field. Ryan Read and Adam Greenaway each chipped in with 13 points with Read hitting a trio of three-pointers. Tyler Gottstein led the effort on the boards with eight.

The list of accolades for Ammann is quite lengthy as he has molded the Concordia program into one of the elite in all of college basketball. He owns the only NAIA Division I Men's Basketball national championship on the West Coast by a current NAIA member, a 88-84 overtime win over Mountain State (W.Va.) in the 2003 championship game that earned him NAIA Coach of the Year accolades. The only other NAIA title to go to a school in the Pacific Time Zone came back in the 1941 season when San Diego State was a member of the association.

"I remember when I first got this job that coach Marshall said that he got the program to a certain level and it was my job to take the program to the next level. I feel good that we've done that, but I don't know if we could have got that going if he had not done all the groundwork and lay all the bricks to set the stage for the next group like he did. It's an honor to be associated with his name today."

Ammann has been to three title games in four tournament appearances and fashioned an overall record of 13-3. Last March, he led the Eagles through one of the most memorable games in NAIA Tournament history, a 124-119, four-overtime win over #1-seeded and unbeaten Robert Morris (Ill.) that included heroic game-tying shots at the end of each of the first three extra frames.

The 2006-07 season was also special for Ammann as he took the Eagles to a share of their first-ever Golden State Athletic Conference regular season championship and was named the GSAC Coach of the Year for the first time. After enduring five-straight sub-.500 campaigns in conference play prior to his arrival, the Eagles have averaged over 14 wins per season in GSAC play since Ammann took over and are currently 9-2 atop the conference table this season.

Leading by nine points at intermission, the Eagles put the game out of reach with an 11-3 run early on in the second half. Da Silva, Read and Terrence Worthy all hit three-pointers before Da Silva drove the lane for a short jumper to build a 60-43 lead with 16:13 remaining.

Bayo Arigbon had 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds to lead San Diego Christian (4-16, 1-11 GSAC). LaJuan Johnson chipped in with 11 points while Myles Luttman added 10.

Concordia (19-2, 10-2 GSAC) starts a stretch of 3-of-4 on the road starting this Friday, February 8 at Azusa Pacific with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.