Box Score BELMONT, Calif. —  Senior Xander McNally sank two free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining and had four steals to retain the nation's lead in that category in NCAA Division II as the Dominican University of California men's basketball team escaped with a 49-45 Pacific West Conference victory over Notre Dame de Namur University Saturday night.

Jacob Noisat had a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds as Dominican (6-15/5-5) won its third consecutive game, its longest winning streak in its brief NCAA Div. II history and its longest winning streak overall since the Penguins won five in a row from Jan. 22 to Feb. 5, 2009 as a member of the NAIA's California Pacific Conference.

The win over the Argonauts (8-11/4-7) didn't come easy. The Penguins' 14-point halftime lead was whittled down to two, 46-44, on a 3-point play by NDNU's Wesley White with 2:31 left in the game. But the Argonauts, with a chance to tie or take their first lead of the game, had a crucial turnover with 1:16 to go.

Dominican prevailed thanks to its defense, limiting NDNU to 13 points in the first half and staving off the Argonauts comeback but holding them without a field goal for nearly six minutes in the second half and only one in the final eight minutes. It was the first time in two years that the Penguins have posted back-to-back wins on the road.

“It was a scare but once again it's one of those things you take as a learning point,” said Head Coach Booker T. Harris. “The guys executed great in the first half and the second half you have to have a mentality to close games out.”

Aggressive man-to-man defense by Dominican set the tone on the first half. Three times the Penguins forced the Argonauts into shot-clock violations. With Jammall Clark grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots, Dominican held NDNU to 4-of-22 shooting in the first half, 18.2 percent.

Offensively, the Penguins, who didn't take the lead against NDNU until the 12:18 mark of the first half in the 67-61 victory over the Argonauts on Jan. 28 in the Conlan Center, never trailed after Noisat netted a pair of free throws to open the game. They went on an 8-0 before Myles Carrillo came off the bench to score seven consecutive Dominican points for a 17-6 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.

Three-point shots by Mark Lewis and Ricky Wofford built the Penguins' cushion to as wide as 16 points, 25-9. Noisat had eight points, 6-of-6 from the foul line, to lead Dominican and, though the Penguins connected on only just nine field goals in the first half, led 27-13 at intermission.

For the game, Lewis finished with 11 points and Clark also had eight rebounds, two on the offense end in the second half when the Penguins needed it most.

The Penguins will attempt to post their first four-game winning streak in three years on Tuesday when they host Academy of Art University in the Conlan Center. Game time is 7:30 p.m. That game will be broadcast live online at www.dominicanathletics.com/livevideo and http://radio.dominican.edu.