TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team will make its 2013–14 regular season debut this weekend when it hosts the PacWest/CCAA Challenge at the Conlan Center.

The Penguins turned heads in 2012–13, going 16-11 and earning the fourth seed in the inaugural Pacific West Conference Championships after having been picked to finish seventh in a preseason coaches poll. Second Year Head Coach Booker T. Harris was named the PacWest Co-Coach of the Year. Three players earned All-Conference honors, including returners Devin Golston and Dominique Taplin.

A 6-foot-6 forward from Cerritos, Calif.,Golston started all 26 points for the Penguins. He was the team's leading scorer (12.6 ppg) and rebounder (5.6 rpg) and garnered Second Team honors. Taplin earned Third Team honors as a sophomore and led the PacWest with an .875 (56-of-64) free throw percentage during the regular season. Dominican returns five other lettermen, including senior guard Myles Carrillo and senior center Connor Haysbert. The Penguins have added five new faces, including Kyle Orhner and Josh Ramirez. Ohrner, a sophomore out of Stockholm, Sweden, scored five points off the bench in Dominican's exhibition loss at Fresno State while Ramirez started for the Penguins.

Dominican, picked to finish eighth out of 13 teams in the PacWest this season, will face CCAA members Humboldt State and Cal State East Bay. The Penguins last faced Humboldt State in 2006 when Dominican was a member of NAIA Division II. The Lumberjacks took that meeting, 106-52, and went 28-2 that season. That Lumberjacks team fell in the NCAA West Regional to Cal State San Bernardino, where Harris was an assistant coach.

The Lumberjacks have already faced Cal and St. John's in a pair of exhibition losses and are overhauled for the 2013-14 campaign after having finished 11-15 last season. A number of injuries — including to former Dominican guard Austin Bryan — leaves the Lumberjacks without their top nine scorers from a year ago. The Lumberjacks will have to rely on their wealth of homegrown talent as well as junior Allan Guei, a transfer from Cal State Northridge.

Dominican will see Cal State East Bay twice this season. The Penguins got the best of their one-time California Pacific Conference rivals, 81-62, at home last December. The Pioneers have a new look under new Head Coach Gus Argenal after Will Biggs' 15-season tenure came to a close last season. The Pioneers are tabbed to finish in 10th place in the CCAA. Senior guard Mark Samuels, CSUEB's fifth leading scorer all-time, is back after missing all of last season with an injury. The Pioneers also return three starters in senior guard Gabe Kindred (team-high 11.3 ppg) and juniors Jacari Whitfield and Ryan Hebebrand.

PacWest rival Academy of Art University will face the two CCAA opponents as well.  While the Urban Knights lost all-time leading scorer Ameer Shamsud-din to graduation, they do return reigning PacWest Freshman of the Year Alex Carmon (14.8 ppg) as well as junior Aaron Anderson (7.5 ppg).

Live coverage of the PacWest/CCAA Challenge will be provided by Dominican for all four games. Click here more information on the PacWest/CCAA Challenge, including links to live coverage.