Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — It's only the second game of the 2013–14 season but it may be safe to say that the Dominican University of California men's basketball team is the proverbial second-half team. Then again, Saturday night's 110-106 double overtime victory over Cal State East Bay wasn't exactly the way Dominican Head Coach Booker T. Harris had in mind. By the time the dust had settled, four of Dominican's starters had fouled out and the fifth had four fouls as the Penguins stole the show at the PacWest/CCAA Challenge on their home floor.

Had Matt Hayes, who followed up Friday's career-high 25-point performance with 20 points and seven rebounds on Saturday despite battling the stomach flu, also fouled out Harris wouldn't have had another player suited up ready to go.

"I looked at the end of the bench to see who was left and our guys were either done already or in street clothes," said Harris, of his team who has relied heavily on its starters while some potentially key players look to get healthy. "We would have been scrambling to get a uniform on somebody and have them stand in the corner. Fortunately, our guys got it done before it came to that."

Cal State East Bay (0-2) controlled the first 37 and a half minutes and claimed a 36-25 halftime lead by getting the Penguins into early foul trouble. That meant that center Connor Haysbert played just four minutes. Devin Golston played eight and Myles Carrillo played nine.

The flip side was that those three were well rested. Golston, who scored just three first-half points, finished his night with 17 points in 31 minutes before fouling out. Dominique Taplin notched career-highs with a 29 points and a 11 rebounds, both of which led all players in the game. After scoring a career-high 27 points and pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds in 39 minutes, Carrillo exited the game to chants of "MVP" from the Conlan Center crowd.

Golston's three-pointer at the 2:30 mark in the second half tied the game at 71-71 and a Hayes basket gave the Penguins (2-0) their first lead of the night 28 seconds later. One of five Pioneers in double digits, Gabe Kindred (24 points, nine rebounds, six assists) laid in a bucket with 48 seconds left in regulation to tie it back up and send the game to overtime.

Dominican fell behind by three twice in overtime but both teams scored 10 points apiece to move the score to 85-85 and the game to a second overtime.

A Taplin layup put the Penguins up in double overtime and Dominican fended off the Pioneers the rest of the way. A Carrillo three-pointer gave the Penguins their largest lead of the night, 94-87, but the Pioneers pulled within two points three more times over the final three minutes. With Haysbert, Golston, and Taplin all fouled out, Carrillo took things upon himself. He drew five fouls and went 8-of-10 from the free throw line over the final two minutes. Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten added a pair of free throws in the final second to make a final comeback impossible.

"Tonight was a great team win, we all played for each other. Getting in foul trouble put us in a tough position but to Dominique and Matt's credit, they really stepped up and helped us stay in it," said Carrillo. "Starting this season 2-0, especially for me as a senior, is huge and hopefully we can continue [that success] next weekend and throughout the season."

Carrillo was named the PacWest/CCAA Challenge MVP after averaging 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists per game. Golston, Hayes, and Taplin were all named to the All-Tournament Team, as Dominican was the only team to win both of its games. Academy of Art's Aaron Aikman, Humboldt State's David Howard, and Kindred rounded out the All-Tournament Team.

The Penguins head to Sonoma State next weekend to compete in the Ron Logsdon Classic, where they'll face host SSU and Cal State East Bay yet again. More information on the four-team classic is available at sonomaseawolves.com/logsdon.