Box Score ROHNERT PARK, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team is off to one of its best starts ever. The Penguins improved to a season-opening mark of 4-0 on Saturday with an 84-70 victory over Cal State East Bay in day two of the Ron Logsdon Basketball Classic.

"Freshman year with Myles, we won four games all season. Now we're a team with an identity who plays good D, who wants to run, and we try to execute that every day," said Haysbert "We have players and coaches who buy into that and that's why we're seeing success."

It was a contrast to last Saturday's 110-106 double overtime victory over the Pioneers (1-3) at home. The Penguins saw all five starters reach double digits, led by 20 from Matt Hayes. Seniors Connor Haysbert and Myles Carrillo poured in 17 and 13, respectively, Devin Golston poured in 17, and Dominique Taplin added 11 in the win. Haysbert and Taplin each reeled in a team-high seven rebounds.

"It means a lot for us to start off 4-0, it feels good," said Taplin. "As far as rebounding goes, we're pretty small outside of a few guys and I have to go in there and battle."

Dominican jumped out to an early eight-point lead and led by as much as 11 in the first half but the game remained close with the Penguins leading 39-32 at the half. Halfway through, Dominican had shot 16-of-32 (.500) from the field.

Five minutes into the second half, Dominican saw its lead wiped away and it was a brand new ballgame with 15:17 left in regulation. A Golston three-pointer followed by a pair of Haysbert free throws restored the lead to five though and Dominican would never trail again. A Jacari Whitfield three-pointer cut the lead to one at the nine-minute mark but the Penguins held the Pioneers scoreless the final two minutes while also tacking on another nine points, all at the free throw line. Whitfield led the Pioneers with 16 points.

The Penguins finished the game shooting .482 (27-of-56) and went 19-of-20 at the free throw in the second half, including that final two-minute stretch.

"Coach Harris came into the locker room at halftime and told us we needed to get to the free throw line," said Haysbert. "I was fading away a little early on so I was trying to go up strong in the second half. Hopefully we can extend our success and keep winning games."

Dominican was crowned the Tournament Champion after being the only team to go 2-0 during the weekend. Taplin was named Tournament MVP and Carrillo was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Dominican hosts Pacifica College on Thursday, Nov. 21. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. with live coverage available at dominicanathletics.com/live.