Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — All five starters scored in double digits, led by sophomore Matt Hayes' career-high 25 points, and the Dominican University of California men's basketball team notched a 95-83 victory over Humboldt State in the two teams' season opener, part of the PacWest/CCAA Classic.

Hayes drained 8-of-13 baskets with 5-of-9 coming from behind the three-point line. Senior Devin Golston went 8-of-12 for 21 points. Senior center Connor Haysbert recorded a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Dominique Taplin poured in 12 points and Myles Carrillo added 11 points.

"My teammates penetrated the lane and collapsed the defense and fortunately I was able to make my shots," said Hayes. "It was huge to open the season like that and get a win over a CCAA team."

The performance showed how far the Dominican program has come since its NAIA days. The last time the Penguins faced the Lumberjacks was in 2006, where the Penguins were handed a 106-52 throttling. It was a different story on Friday night. After trailing by a basket for the first five minutes, Dominican tied it on a Golston slam dunk and took the lead for good with 14:18 left in the first half and never relinquished the lead. A Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten three-pointer gave the Penguins the lead, 8-7, and the lead was as large as six. Dominican took a 31-28 halftime lead into the locker room.

Dominican came out firing in the second half and ran off 10 straight points to build the lead to 13, 41-28. The lead dwindled to seven before the Penguins rattled off another nine straight points to extend the lead to 22, 65-43, with 8:28 to play. The Lumberjacks were forced to foul for the final four minutes and sent the Penguins to the line 24 times in that span. The plan nearly worked for HSU, who managed to cut the lead to as few as eight before free throws from Golston and Hayes pushed the final deficit back to 12.

As a team, the Penguins shot .600 (13-of-27), fueled in part by high percentage shooting in the second half. Dominican went 20-of-28 (.714) in the second half, including 6-of-10 (.600) from downtown. The Penguins also outworked the Lumberjacks on the glass, 32-25, and forced 16 turnovers.

"You have to be happy when your starters come out and attack like that. Matt played great and we distributed the ball incredibly well tonight," said Head Coach Booker T. Harris. "There's a of positives lot to take away but also a lot of things where we'll review the video and tighten up things up in order to hold onto a lead once we get it."\

Dominican, the host of the PacWest/CCAA Challenge, will face Cal State East Bay on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The Pioneers fell 97-80 to Academy of Art University in game one of the tournament. Humboldt State will face ART U in the 5:30 p.m. game. Live coverage is available at dominicanathletics.com/live and full classic information is available at dominicanathletics.com/pacwestchallenge.