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SAN RAFAEL, Calif. —  The Dominican University of California men's basketball team mounted a 21-point first-half lead to snap a four game losing streak, beating visiting Holy Names University 80-64 in non-conference play on Saturday night.

Austin Bryan got things started for the Penguins (3-7) with a layup from Mark Lewis. By the 15-minute mark, Dominican had shot out big, taking a 20-5 advantage on an Alex Ward tip-back. The Penguins extended the lead to 31-10 on a fastbreak started by Mike Wells that ended in an Alastair Flack layup. The Penguins held as large as a 24-point lead before entering the locker room with a 46-25 halftime lead.

Xander McNally got the Penguins going right away when he took the ball to the hoop and drew the foul. Dominican pushed the lead back to 23 before Holy Names trimmed the deficit to 16 points with a Jamiel Nisbett layup with 12:08 to play. The Hawks continued to chip away, cutting the Dominican lead to 60-50 at the 7:48 mark. A Ward dunk from an out-of-bounds pass by Bryan sparked a 6-0 Dominican run that helped the Penguins settle down. McNally drew the foul on a layup to put Dominican back up by 21 with just over three minutes to play. The Hawks never came closer than 13 points down during the final stretch.

Bryan finished with 22 points, including an unblemished 8-of-8 from the free throw line, and dished out five assists. Ward recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

David Scott paced the Hawks with team-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds. Harley Haynes added 14 points and Nisbett added 11 points in the defeat.

"It was huge for us to put together a win before the break," said McNally, who finished with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals. "We struggled on the boards but we worked hard enough and ran our stuff well."

The Dominican game was the second game of a double-header that featured San Rafael High School in the first game, with the Dawgs victorious over Albany High School. San Rafael High School and Dominican helped support the efforts of the Ross Valley Firefighter's Club, San Anselmo Police Officer's Association, and Fairfax Police Officer's Association by staging a free toy drive that  saw nearly 200 fans filling boxes upon boxes of new toys for children in the Ross Valley community as part of the "Holiday Season Toy Drive."

The Dominican men next take the floor on Wednesday, Dec. 30 when CSU East Bay comes calling. The Pioneers are also in the process of becoming a member of NCAA Division II and are part of the CCAA. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Conlan Center. The game will be broadcast live online at http://radio.dominican.edu.