BOX SCORE

BELMONT, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball found itself playing come-from-behind basketball much of Saturday night. In the end, the Penguins couldn't catch up and fell 72-69 to Notre Dame de Namur University in the final Pacific West Conference game of the season at Walter Gleason Gymnasium.

The lead exchanged hands five times in the first half although NDNU looked poised to run away with things midway through the half. A 16-6 run put the Argos up 10 but Dominican responded with six unanswered points, including four from junior guard Mark Lewis. Lewis started another six-point run that tied the game at 23-23 with 5:47 to play. Redshirt freshman James McKinnon knocked down a pair of free throws for the 27-25 Dominican lead with 2:32 left in the half. The Penguins took that lead into the half, as neither team scored after that.

Coming out of the break, NDNU's Nick Storment hit a jumper to tie things and the next trip down the Argos took the lead on a second-chance layup from Arron Mollet. The rest of the half, the Argonauts slowly built their lead and extended it to 11 with 1:13 to play on a Storment free throw. The Penguins were able to foul their way back into the game and had a chance to tie the game but a last-ditch attempt with exactly one second on the clock refused to fall.

Three Argos reached double digits. Junior guard Arron Mollet led NDNU with 20 points and eight rebounds. Storment and junior guard Josh Pettit each added 17 points. Junior forward Tyler Fricke also grabbed eight rebounds.

Four Penguins reached double digits but it wasn't enough to combat NDNU's 44 trips to the free throw line. Freshman Connor Haysbert went 7-for-10 and led the Penguins with 15 points. Lewis added 13 points. Junior guard Xander McNally added 12 points, led all players with eight assists, and had a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore center Killian Larson added a dozen points. Larson, who entered the game sixth in the PacWest in rebounds (6.9), pulled down just three, his lowest total since grabbing a pair in a January 14 loss to Hawai'i Pacific University.

The game was the final game in their Dominican careers for seniors Adam Chavis, Leon Hart, Brett Poncia, and Mike Wells.

With the loss, the Penguins finish 4-22 and 4-12 in the PacWest. The Argos improve to 6-20 and also finish with a 4-12 conference mark.