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SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team looked poised to win its first game of the season on Saturday night but ultimately fell short, 81-68, to Seattle Pacific University at the Conlan Center in the final night of the Dominican Classic.

The Penguins (0-7) started the night with an Xavier Muldrow fastbreak layup from sophomore guard Mark Lewis and Leon Hart's layup the next trip down gave the Penguins a 4-0 lead. SPU's Chris Banchero made his only three-pointer of the night at the 17-minute mark to shift the lead to Seattle Pacific (6-2). The Falcons took a six-point lead before Dominican rallied back, taking a seven-point lead on Hart's jumper with seven minutes left in the first half. The Penguins held off multiple SPU attacks to head into halftime leading 38-37.

The teams exchanged the lead back and forth in the second half, with Dominican taking a six-point lead on an Ian Collins jumper with six minutes to go. By the one two-mark that lead had swung the other direction, with SPU taking a six-point lead of their own on a pair of Banchero free throws. Seattle Pacific extended the final deficit to 13 thanks to 8-of-8 shooting over the final minute and fifteen seconds.

Banchero was simply unstoppable, scoring 19 points in the first half en route to a 42-point performance. The guard went 11-of-16 from the floor and 19-of-21 from the free throw line, which was less than Dominican's 21 total free throw attempts as a team. Center Andy Poling was 8-of-13 from the floor and tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Jeff Downs added nine points in the victory.

Senior guard Adam Chavis led the charge for Dominican, pouring in a season-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Hart added 14 points and Collins scored 12 points before fouling out. Muldrow chipped in seven points in the loss. Collins and Muldrow led the Penguins with five rebounds apiece.

Dominican has an uphill battle in its search for that elusive first victory, taking on three NCAA Division I opponents at the end of the year at the Hilltop Challenge hosted by USF.