BOX SCORE
LAIE, Hawai'i — It was another tough night for the Dominican University of California men's basketball team, who fell 75-64 in Pacific West Conference play to BYU-Hawaii on Wednesday night at the Cannon Activities Center.
The Penguins (0-14/0-3) dug themselves into a hole they couldn't get out of in the first half. They trailed by just five at the 12-minute mark but by the half the Penguins trailed by double digits, 45-23. BYUH extended its lead to 25 before Dominican closed the game out on a 14-5 run.
A team that went just 8-of-24 (.333) in the first half, Dominican looked much sharper in the second half. The Penguins spread the floor and went 15-of-28 (.536) from the field in the second half and made 3-of-6 (.500) attempts from deep for the game. Dominican also edged BYUH on the glass, pulling down 33 rebounds to the Seasiders' 29.
Four BYU-Hawaii starters reached double digits. Preseason PacWest Player of the Year choice Jet Chang led all players with 18 points. Jake Dastrup and Marques Whippy each added 16 points apiece and Rory Patterson chipped in 10 points. The other starter, Heath Gameron, dished out 10 assists for the Seasiders. Whippy led all players with eight rebounds.
The victory was win 400 for BYU-Hawaii Head Coach Ken Wagner. He is the most successful coach in BYU-Hawaii history and has more wins than any other college coach in the history of Hawai'i.
Sophomore center
Killian Larson finished with 13 points, 10 of which came in the first half, and seven rebounds. Senior guard
Adam Chavis came off the bench to add a dozen points. Freshman forward
Daniel Cheledinas went 4-for-4 from the floor and scored a career-high nine points in 11 minutes. Freshman center
Connor Haysbert and sophomore guard
Ian Collins added seven points apiece in the loss.
Dominican will look to salvage its four-game road trip to Hawai'i when they face Hawai'i Pacific University on Friday, Jan. 14. That game will also be played at the Cannon Activities Center on the BYU-Hawaii campus in Laie. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. HST.