Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — In a pre-Valentine's Day shootout, the Dominican University of California men's basketball team on Monday night outshot the best shooting team in the nation to score its biggest win of the season.

Devin Golston netted a team-high 17 points and Jammall Clark tallied 12 of his 16 points in the second half as the Penguins shot .556 from the floor to build a 14-point second-half lead then held on for a thrilling 78-75 victory over first-place and defending Pacific West Conference champion Dixie State College. The Red Storm came into the contest with a nine-game winning streak as the No. 1 team in NCAA Division II in field goal shooting percentage (.525) and the No. 1 team in the PacWest in field goal percentage defense (.393).

Myles Carrillo added 10 points and a game-high five assists and came off the bench to rally Dominican from a 15-2 deficit six minutes into the game. From that point on, the Penguins (13-9/9-5) one upped Dixie State (16-5/11-2) on both ends of the floor.

“The guys battled back,” said Head Coach Booker T. Harris. “Some guys got off to a rough start but other guys stepped up. I guess that's our M.O. We don't know who is going to show up and be our best player on what night.”

Carrillo scored eight of his 10 points in the first half but set up Clark with an emphatic slam dunk for a 73-65 lead with 1:14 left in the game. The Red Storm, however, stormed back, making 16 consecutive free throws in one stretch. They managed to get a wide-open potential game-tying 3-point shot in the final seconds before the Penguins prevailed.

“Our coach was challenging us from the start to get this win, saying they were a really good team,” said senior center Jacob Noisat, who capped a 9-0 run with a basket that provided Dominican a 50-36 lead with 12:34 to go. “Now that we beat them it shows us we can play with the big dogs.”

The upset victory rivals Dominican's 72-62 home win over Grand Canyon University last season. That was the conference opener and the Penguins, picked to finish last in the PacWest last year, stunned Grand Canyon, which was picked second in a coaches' preseason poll.

“I feel like this one was bigger because it happened later in the season,” said Clark, who had a game-high eight rebounds against Dixie State. Dominican outrebounded the Red Storm 32-23 in the contest and now has a record of 12-2 this season when it outrebounds its opponent. Dixie State is No. 1 in the PacWest in defensive rebounding yet the Penguins beat the Red Storm 25-17 on the defensive glass.

Dominican, picked this season in a pre-season coaches poll to finish seventh, now holds the No. 4 seed for the inaugural PacWest tournament at Azusa Pacific University March 7-9. It has been a team effort. Carrillo keyed a 10-0 run in the first half and later nailed a corner 3-point shot off a pass by Ricky Wofford that gave the Penguins their first lead of the game, 33-30. It was a lead the Penguins never surrendered thanks to some great contributions off the bench by freshman Jonny Bates, Derek Ober and Connor Haysbert.

Dominican wound up shooting 54 percent from the floor in the game and sank 18 of 20 attempts from the free throw line. It was the Penguins' second best shooting game of the season and the best shooting performance by a Dixie State opponent this year.

“Any team can get beat in college basketball on any given night,” Harris said. “I think the D-1 teams are showing that. If you're No. 1 or in first place, you get everyone's best shot.”

The Penguins, who play three of their final four regular season games at home, return to Conlan Center on Saturday for a crucial PacWest match-up with third-place Grand Canyon, which will move to NCAA Div. I and the Western Athletic Conference next season. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at the Conlan Center. Coverage will be available at www.dominicanathletics.com/llive.