BOX SCORE

HONOLULU, HAWAII — They needed overtime to do it but the Dominican University of California men's basketball team completed the women's/men's Pacific West Conference doubleheader sweep of Chaminade University with an 84-76 win at McCabe Gymnasium on Monday night.

Both teams combined for 56 field goal attempts in the first half, with each team making 11. Neither team led by more than four points in the first half with Dominican (7-12/4-4) taking its first at 18:58 on an Alex Ward bucket. The teams exchanged baskets, and the lead, for the next 15 minutes. Austin Bryan tied it at 32-32 with 2:34 left in the half on a pair of free throws resulting from a technical on the Chaminade (7-10/4-4) bench. The teams remained scoreless until the 36-second mark when Fox Mulholland followed a pair of missed shots to put Dominican ahead 34-32. Steven Bennett made the back end of a pair of free throws to trim the halftime lead to 34-33.

Bennett hit a floater to begin the second half and dissolve the Penguin lead before one of Bryan's five three-pointers put Dominican back ahead. The Penguins went ahead by six on another Bryan three-pointer but that's as far as either team would get in regulation. Bennett completed a three-point play with 10:16 on the clock to tie the game at 56. Dominican took the lead back but Bennett nailed a three-pointer off the dribble to tie the game at 65-65 with 4:21 to go. Matt Cousins put the Silver Swords ahead with a pair of free throws and Dominican missed their next four free throw attempts. With the game in the balance, Chandler Pearson gave Chaminade a four-point lead with 46.4 seconds left in regulation with one of two free throw attempts. Bryan came down and buried another three-pointer with 35.5 seconds to go to pull the Penguins within a point. Pearson again split his free throw attempts and that opened the door back for Dominican. Bryan was fouled with 15.5 seconds and made both. Bennett was fouled at the other end but missed both free throws, sending the game into overtime.

Xavier Muldrow opened the extra period with a drive and layup. Ward put the Penguins ahead for good with 1:25 on the clock. A Bryan putback extended the lead to four and an Alastair Flack three-point play put the Penguins up seven. Muldrow added a free throw to seal the victory.

"We knew that coming to Hawai'i would be a tough road trip. We didn't give up when we missed chances to go ahead or when we fell behind," said Bryan. "We stayed with it and this win really proves that we can compete in the PacWest."

Bryan made 10 field goals and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line to lead all scorers with 34 points, a new career-high for the freshman. McNally and Ward each made five field goals and finished with 13 points each. Ward added 13 rebounds to notch the double-double. Killian Larson scored 10 points and snatched seven rebounds. Muldrow added five points and pulled down half a dozen rebounds in the victory.

Steven Bennett played the full 45 minutes and finished with 27 points and 8 assists for Chaminade.  Matt Cousins added 23 points and 7 rebounds for the Silver Swords.

"We found a way to win," said Dominican Head Coach Bret Tovani. "It was a great team effort and guys stepped up and made big plays when we needed them."

With the win, Dominican moves into a tie for fifth place in the PacWest with Chaminade and Grand Canyon. The Dominican men next play on Feb. 10 when they face first-place Hawai'i Pacific University. The Penguins wrap up their Hawaiian road trip by hopping islands to face the University of Hawai'i, Hilo on Feb. 12. Tipoff for both games is set for 7:30 p.m. Hawaiian/9:30 p.m. Pacific.