Box Score SAINT GEORGE, Utah — A first-half lead melted into a second-half lapse on Friday as the Dominican University of California men's basketball  team was outscored 40-21 after intermission in a 66-55 defeat to Dixie State College in a Pacific West Conference game.

Jammall Clark topped the Penguins (3-13/2-3) with 14 points and seven rebounds while senior Xander McNally contributed nine points, a team-high eight rebounds, a game-high seven assists, and a game-high four steals. Teammates Derek Ober and Connor Haysbert also netted nine points against the Red Storm (9-4/4-1).

Dominican just wishes it had a do-over in the second half.

“We definitely threw the ball away and didn't catch it and got ourselves in trouble,” said Head Coach Booker T. Harris. “We had executed our game plan in the first half. The wheels just came off.”

The Penguins finished the first half in fantastic fashion. Trailing 21-17, Dominican went on a 17-5 run beginning with a Ricky Wofford 3-point shot and ending with a McNally halfcourt shot to beat the buzzer for a 34-26 lead. McNally, who had five rebounds and four assists in his first 10 minutes on the floor, wound up with seven points and five assists at intermission as the Penguins scored the final nine points.

Ober , who was injured and didn't play in Dominican's 73-72 overtime win over Dixie State at the Conlan Center last week, also had seven points in the first half. His lay-up off a McNally pass put the Penguins in front 27-26 with 1:42 to go in the half.

Haysbert, who went 0-for-10 from the floor in Dominican's 84-40 defeat at Dixie State last year, missed his first two shots on Friday but sank his next four — two of them free throws — for six points in the first half.

The second half was a struggle for the Penguins. They committed six turnovers in the first six minutes after intermission and Dixie State converted Dominican's miscues into 10 points. After a Clark basket put the Penguins in front 38-32 with 16:50 to play, the Red Storm reeled off nine consecutive points.

Still, Dominican was within a point, 45-44, following a Haysbert basket with 11:44 to play. Dixie State, however, went on another run, 9-2, to put the Penguins in a hole.

“It's a game of runs and we didn't have an answer,” Harris said. “Unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot.”

Dominican's best chance to pull off the upset came with about four minutes to go. A three-point play by Clark pulled the Penguins to within five points, 55-50, and Dominican got the ball back. But a three-point shot by senior Mark Lewis, which would have cut the lead to two points with 3:48 remaining, rimmed in and out and Dixie State closed out the game. As a team, Domincian was was 2-of-12 from three-point range.

The Red Storm, which leads the league in defensive field goal percentage (.411), limited Dominican to 38.5 percent shooting while they connected on 47.6 percent of their field goal tries.

The Penguins return home next week to begin a three-game PacWest homestand. They host Chaminade at the Conlan Center on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. That game will be broadcast live online at http://radio.dominican.edu and www.dominicanathletics.com/livevideo.