Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team got off to a strong start but lived and died by the three-pointer in a 69-67 loss to Hawai'i Pacific University on Saturday night at the Conlan Center.

Dominican (11-7/5-5 PacWest) forged a 12-8 lead, with all 12 points coming on three-pointers, in the first six minutes. Offensively, the Penguins struggled the rest of the half with just three points coming from within the perimeter — a Connor Haysbert layup and a Myles Carrillo free throw. Despite shooting just 32 percent and being outrebounded 19-13, the Penguins trailed just 30-23 at intermission.

A Carrillo three-pointer cut the lead to four to come out the gates in the second half but the Sea Warriors (11-3/6-2 PacWest) answered with 10 consecutive points that saw the Penguins trailing 42-26 with 14:06 left in regulation. The deficit grew to 17 before Dominican made an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 59-53 with two and a half minutes to play. A Haysbert free throw cut the lead to three with under a minute to go. A pair of Malte Ziegenhagen free throws pushed the lead back to five and Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten answered with one of his career-high five three-pointers. The lead again grew to four, and Schwartz-Edmisten sank a pair of free throws to put the deficit back at two. Then, Devin Golston nearly picked off a pass at midcourt but Leif Rodney was able to break away, forcing Golston to wrap him up instead of giving up the easy basket. That plan backfired with Golston being called for an intentional foul, which resulted in a pair of Rodney free throws and the ball back to HPU. A Ziegenhagen free throw yet again pushed the lead to five and a Dominique Taplin three-pointer with 1.1 seconds put the lead at two. The Sea Warriors aired a pass out to run the clock out.

Schwartz-Edmisten came off the bench to lead all players with a career-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from deep. Carrillo added 17 points, also going 5-of-8 from deep, which was a career-high for him as well. Golston scored 14 points and made three three-pointers. Haysbert led all players with eight rebounds.

The Penguins attempted 55 field goal attempts, 29 of which came from deep. The Penguins shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field but went 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from past the perimeter. Conversely, HPU shot 59.1 percent (26-of-44) from the field, including an astounding 68.4 percent (13-of-19) in the second half. Both teams attempted 20 free throws with HPU making one more, 13-12.

Darry Jones, Jr. was one of three Sea Warriors to reach in double digits and scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

The Penguins host UH Hilo on Thursday, Jan. 23 in another PacWest doubleheader. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. in the Conlan Center with live coverage available at dominicanathletics.com/live.