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SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team came inches away from upsetting visiting Dixie State College, falling 74-72 in the final second of play on Monday night at the Conlan Center.

Killian Larson got the Penguins (4-11/1-3) on the board early with a layup in the first minute before an 11-0 run by Dixie State (11-3/5-0) sent the Red Storm ahead 15-4. The Penguins slowed the Red Storm, scoring the next eight points to trail by just three at the 10-minute mark. One of Austin Bryan's four three-pointers cut the lead to 19-18 with 6:48 to go. The Red Storm built the lead back to seven points before a Xavier Muldrow layup cut the lead to two with just over a minute to play in the first half. An Andy Palmer layup with 26 seconds send Dixie State into the locker room with the 31-27 advantage.

The Red Storm quickly grew the lead with a 5-point run to start the second half to go up nine points. Dominican rallied back yet again, cutting the lead to two on an Alex Ward steal and fast break dunk. A Fox Mulholland layup on the next possession tied things at 41-41 with 13:02 to go. The Red Storm took the lead back for the next two minutes until a Mark Lewis three-pointer tied things at 50-50 with 10:38 to play. Another Lewis three-ball put Dominican ahead by four points with 7:41 to go but Nick Howard soon tied it for the Red Storm at 58 on the first of two free throws. The lead changed hands five more times before the 41-second mark, when a pair of Tommy Whitehead free throws tied the game at 72. Dominican had a chance to take the lead on their last possession but failed to score and the Red Storm's Howard tip-in on a missed three-point attempt with 2.4 seconds left turned out to be the game winner.

Despite the loss, Bryan continued to impress the PacWest with a game-high 29-points. Lewis went 5-of-10 on the night, including three three-pointers, to finish with 16 points. Larson posted a career-high 10 rebounds and was just shy of a double-double with nine points. As a team, the Penguins shot .500 on the night (26-of-52) and .538 from behind the three-point arc (7-of-13). They also turned in an impressive showing at the free throw line, nailing 13-of-14 attempts (.929).

Four of Dixie State's starters reached double digit scoring. Whitehead led the Red Storm with 21 points. Palmer added 16 points, Donovan Plunkett added 15 points, and Howard finished with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Red Storm made 27 of its 57 attempts (.474) but went just 13-of-19 (.684) from the charity stripe.

The Dominican men next travel to San Francisco's Academy of Art, who is yet to win a game this season.  The game, originally designated a home game for the Penguins, will now be a home game for AAU and will be played at the famous Kezar Pavilion. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.