SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Five players scored in double digits for the Dominican University of California men's basketball and the Penguins pulled away in the second half for their first win of the season, 83-73, over visiting Cal State Monterey Bay.

The Penguins (1-1) overcame a slow first half that saw them trail buy as much as eight and 33-28 at the half. Dominican turned on the afterburners in the second half though. Senior Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten, who poured in 18 points, nailed a three-pointer to start the half and fellow senior Matt Hayes followed with a three-pointer of his own. That gave Dominican its first lead, 34-33, since the eight-minute mark in the first half. A Ryan Nitz three-pointer gave the Otters the lead back but junior Josh Ramirez's layup at 16:50 gave the Penguins the lead for good. Sophomore Reverend Maduakor's steal and dunk made it a three-point lead and energized the Conlan Center crowd. From there, the Penguins grew the lead to 16 and made their final seven free throws in the last two minutes.

The Penguins were the aggressors and drew 26 fouls. That's where the Penguins won the game, as they sank 29-of-35 (82.9 percent) attempts. The Otters made it to the free throw just 19 times total. Ramirez led all players with 20 points. Maduakor had 16 points on perfect 10-of-10 free throw shooting and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Hayes added 10 points and junior Ryo Tawatari drained two big three-pointers en route to a 10-point performance. After the game, Ramirez and Schwartz-Edmisten were named to the PacWest/CCAA Challenge All-Tournament Team.

Even Zeller led the Otters with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Marquise Washington went a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and added 18 points. Ryan Nitz added 11 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Julian Ducree grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The Penguins host No. 17 Chico State on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at dominicanathletics.com/live with live audio provided by radio.dominican.edu.