Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. —  Dominique Taplin tallied a career-high 24 points and teammates Devin Golston and Jammall Clark combined for 32 points and 19 rebounds, yet the Dominican University of California men's basketball team couldn't outgun Fresno Pacific University on Tuesday night, losing 97-88 in the Conlan Center.

The Penguins (10-8/6-4) had rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit to twice seize a four-point lead in the second half before the Sunbirds (13-6/8-3) went on a 15-4 run to notch their sixth consecutive win. Fresno Pacific has averaged 96.7 points in that winning streak and its 97 points was the most ever scored by a Pacific West Conference team against the Penguins.

“We knew coming in they could score,” said Dominican Head Coach Booker T. Harris, “But we gave up too many offensive rebounds [a season-high 13] and committed too many turnovers [21]. We had opportunities.”

Golston, who made nine of 11 shots from the floor in the game in scoring 18 points, led Dominican with a game-best 12 rebounds. In addition, freshman Matt Hayes chipped in with 10 points off the bench and the Penguins made 18 of their first 19 free throws yet they couldn't match the big three of Fresno Pacific. John Taylor of Chicago, the leading scorer in the Pacific West Conference, netted a game-high 25 points, 21 in the second half, while teammates Matt Samuels from Washington, D.C. and Antonio Credit from Flint, Mich., both scored 21. Malcolm Griffin, a transfer from the University of Toledo, contributed a team-high 10 rebounds.

Still, the Penguins looked to be in good shape with nine and a half minutes to play. Clark, who had 14 points and seven rebounds, tied the game at 64 with a free throw off a Myles Carrillo feed then Ricky Wofford (who had nine points) hit a rainbow floater in the lane and Golston scored a fastbreak lay-up on a Hayes assist for a 68-64 advantage.

A Hayes three-point shot gave Dominican its last lead, 71-67, with 9:40 to go. The Penguins then went six minutes and 21 seconds without scoring a field goal.

“Our guys competed. They played hard,” Harris said. “We just need to play smarter and execute our trademark qualities. We're not very successful when we throw the ball away and we're not very successful when we get outrebounded. We'll work on that.”

The Penguins started slow, trailing by nine points, 24-15, with Wofford, on the bench with two fouls. Nevertheless, gritty Dominican led by Taplin went on an 11-3 run, capped by his jumper to pull within a point, 27-26. Taplin, who had 16 first-half points, and Golston, who had eight points and eight rebounds in the opening half, scored again, each time closing the gap to a point, but then the Penguins went almost four minutes without a field goal.

In that span, Fresno Pacific built its lead as high as 45-33 before Dominican staged another remarkable rally. It scored eight consecutive points in 57 seconds before Golston leaped high and threw down a dunk off a missed shot to pull the Penguins to within two points, 45-43, with 26.3 ticks left in the first half.

The Sunbirds, thanks to five 3-point shots, took a 46-43 lead to the locker room at intermission, but Dominican hung in thanks to 11-of-12 shooting from the free throw line.

The Penguins go back on the road on Saturday when they travel to San Diego to play Point Loma, one of the four new schools in the 14-team PacWest. Game time is 4:00 p.m.