Winners of eight of its last 11 games, the Dominican University of California men's basketball team is headed to the inaugural Pacific West Conference Tournament at Azusa Pacific University beginning March 7.

The Penguins, who have won 12 conference games this season — the most in their four-year history in NCAA Division II — are the No. 4 seed in the tournament and play fifth-seeded BYU-Hawaii in the opening game on Thursday at 8:00 p.m.  Dominican defeated the Seasiders 80-75 at home in their only meeting this season on Jan. 14.

If the Penguins are able to get past BYU-Hawaii, which has won five of its last six games, they would face top-seeded and four-time PacWest champion Dixie State University in the tournament semifinals on Friday night. Dominican upset the Red Storm 78-75 when they last met on Feb. 11.

“We're going into the tournament thinking we can beat anybody. It's going to be tough, but there's no one unbeatable there,” says junior Connor Haysbert , who scored five of his 14 points in overtime on Saturday night in the Penguins' regular season-ending  victory over Academy of Art University. “It's really exciting and a new territory that none of us have been in before.”

The winner of the inaugural PacWest tournament will receive an automatic berth in the 64-team NCAA Div. II tournament.  The West Region begins March 15 in Bellingham, Wash. The Elite Eight will advance to the finals in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. March 28-30.

The Penguins' success this season is predicated on a balanced offensive, excellent rebounding, and staunch defense. Offensively, paced by junior Devin Golston (team-highs 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds per game), Dominican has six players who average 7.1 points or better per game. Haysbert averages 6.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game off the bench as well.

Dominican made a dramatic improvement statistically from last season to the present. The biggest jump came in free throw shooting, where the Penguins moved from ninth in the league (.614) to third (.744) this season. A large part of that success comes by way of  sophomore Dominique Taplin, who has made 48 of his last 53 foul shots and now leads the PacWest in foul shooting with an .875 free throw percentage.

The Penguins also have improved their 3-point shooting percentage. They were last in the league last season but are shooting a respectable .360 – fourth best in the PacWest – this season, led by junior Myles Carrillo. He is third in the conference in 3-point shooting (.470) and Dominican has won its last seven games in which he has netted two or more 3-point shots.

Rebounding is another marked improvement for the Penguins this season.  Led by Haysbert and seniors Jacob Noisat and Jammall Clark, they moved up from ninth in the conference to fourth in rebounding margin ( plus 3.8 per game) and from seventh to second in offensive rebound percentage (.360). In fact, Dominican has a record of 15-2 this season when it outrebounds its opponents.

Balance and consistency have been a trademark of the Penguins under Harris. Last season, they won eight of their last 11 games to finish in fourth place in the PacWest and this season, after being picked to finish in a tie for seventh place in the conference in a pre-season poll of league coaches, the Penguins again won eight of their last 11 games to claim the No. 4 seed in the tournament, even though they don't have a player listed among the top 10 scorers or rebounders in the 14-team conference.