Box Score HONOLULU, Hawai'i — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team nearly rallied all the way back from a 25-point deficit but in the end fell short, 78-75, to Hawai'i Pacific University at the Blaisdell Center on Wednesday night.

It looked as though the Penguins (7-6/3-2) were done early, after trailing 35-20 at the half and 52-27 with over 12 minutes to play. Still, the Penguins fought their way back into contention with an aggressive press that forced 13 HPU (5-6/2-2) turnovers in the second half alone.

A techical foul on HPU's Kyle Milligan sparked the Penguins, who went to the free throw 39 times in the second half and 45 times total. Nine straight Dominican free throws cut the lead to 61-53 in just over a minute and a Devin Golston dunk cut the lead to five with under five minutes to play.

With the Penguins trailing by six, Matt Hayes subbed in to knock down a three-pointer with 20 seconds left on the clock and cut the lead to three. Kawika Lyons couldn't find an open Sea Warrior to inbounds the ball into and was called for a five-second violation under the Penguins' basket. Dominican Head Coach Booker T. Harris drew up another play to Hayes, who knocked down the three but Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten was fouled before the shot. Schwartz-Edmisten made one free throw but Dominican couldn't come down with the rebound on the second free throw. Instead, Dominican was forced to foul. Farbod Farman made his first shot but missed the game's 76th free throw. Jacob Noisat came down with the rebound but the Penguins were unable to get off a quality look with time expiring.

Malte Ziegenhagen helped the Sea Warriors build their early lead with 26 points on 7-of-11 (.636) shooting, including five three pointers and seven free throws. Marko Cukic added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds while Lyons added 10 points and five assists.

Golston reached double digits for the seventh straight game and poured in 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Jammall Clark added 16 points on 6-of-12 (.500) shooting and snatched four rebounds. Dominique Taplin scored 12 points and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe with four assists. Derek Ober led all players with eight rebounds.

Dominican returns home to the Conlan Center on Monday, Jan. 14 to host the one Hawaiian team Dominican didn't face on the road trip. BYU-Hawaii. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. Live coverage will be available at www.dominicanathletics.com/live.