Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team played its first home game on Thursday since a 10-day, four-game road trip to Hawai'i.

The Penguins played like they still had jet lag in the first half and couldn't quite find a jet stream to fuel a remarkable comeback in the second half.

Visiting Hawai'i Pacific University shot 66.7 in the first half and scored the first seven points of the second half to build an 18-point lead, then withstood a series of Dominican rallies to escape with a 69-62 victory. The win was the fourth straight by the Sea Warriors (11-12/6-9) and the loss was one of the most frustrating of the season for the Penguins (9-18/8-8) in front of a season-high crowd of 580.

“I did a poor job of preparing these guys,” said Head Coach Booker T. Harris. “We had a successful road trip. It was like the last five minutes or so of the second half we decided to play.”

Led by Derek Ober, Jammall Clark, and Ricky Wofford, the Penguins knifed that 18-point lead in half – to 54-45 with 8:36 to play -- but a Wofford steal that could have cut deeper into Hawai'i Pacific's advantage and continued Dominican's momentum turned into a crucial turnover.

Dominican had a couple of chances to close to five points with two minutes to play but Mark Lewis and Ober missed 3-point attempts. Ober missed another trey with a minute to play that would have pulled the Penguins to within three points. Dominican was 2-for- 10 from beyond the arc in the contest.

Wofford scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half while Ober had seven of his 10 points in the same frame. Jacob Noisat contributed 11 points, all the first half before getting into foul trouble. Clark had nine points and a game-best seven rebounds.
Xander McNally had a game-high six steals, pushing him ahead of Adams State's Jamiko Verner for the top spot in NCAA Division II men's basketball.

Glenn Miller led HPU with a game-high 19 points. The Sea Warriors, the third best free throw shooting team in the PacWest, connected on 23 of 29 foul shots (79 percent) in the game, 13-of-17 after the Penguins put them in the bonus with 13:31 remaining in the game.

Dominican was outscored by 17 points on the foul line, but attempted 21 more field goals in the game.

In the first half, the Penguins were searching for energy. They got a boost from Noisat. After going 0-for-2 from the floor and 0-6 from the free throw line in 27 minutes versus Hawai'i Pacific 12 days ago, the 6-foot-8 junior center connected on five of his first six shots in first 11 minutes on Thursday.

Noisat gave Dominican its first lead of the game, 8-7, with a reverse lay-up off an offensive rebound. The Penguins stretched that to five points, 14-9, on another Noisat basket, two foul shots by Clark off an assist by Lewis and a Wofford steal and breakaway lay-up with 14 minutes to go in the half.

But Dominican struggled offensively after that, as the Sea Warriors packed their zone defense deep and dared the Penguins to shoot from the perimeter.

“We didn't do a great job of being patient,” Harris said.

Meanwhile, Hawai'i Pacific was successful in pounding the ball inside against Dominican's defense. The Sea Warriors shot 66.7 percent from the floor (14-for-21) and didn't miss a foul shot or a 3-point attempt. They took an 11-point lead, 37-26, to the locker room at intermission.

'We need prepare for Hilo. They're going to be coming in [Saturday] wanting to win,” Harris said. “I really feel for our guys (seniors) and what they have gone through in this program. I hope we send them off in the right way.”

McNally, Lewis, and Xavier Muldrow will be honored in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday when the Penguins play their final home game of the season on Senior Night. Game time against Hawaii-Hilo is 7:30 p.m. in the Conlan Center.