Box Score HILO, Hawai'i — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team never trailed in its 56-50 victory at UH Hilo to open up the Penguins' three-game Pacific West Conference road trip through Hawai'i.

It wasn't the prettiest effort put forth by the Penguins (11-3/5-1 PacWest), who turned the ball over 15 times and shot just 50 percent (7-of-14) from the free throw line. Still, senior Connor Haysbert matched a season-high 17 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Fellow senior Devin Golston recorded his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Dominique Taplin added 11 points, Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten contributed eight, and Matt Hayes finished with five points.

The key to success on Saturday night was the Penguins' ability to shut down the UH Hilo (3-9/0-6) offense. The Vulcans shot 24.1 percent (7-of-29) in the first half and things didn't get much better for them in a nearly identical second half (8-of-29, 27.6 percent).

Five minutes into the contest and the Penguins had established a 14-4 lead. However, uneven play allowed the lead to dip to a single point before a Haysbert layup sent Dominican into the locker room with a 26-22 advantage.

The Penguins' lead grew to eight in the second half but evaporated three minutes later when the Vulcans tied it at  37-37 with 13:32 to play. A Schwartz-Edmisten three-pointer bumped the lead back to six but the persistent Vulcans tied it again, 50-50, with 2:38 to play. Dominican kept the Vulcans off the board in those final minutes and saw two baskets from Haysbert and a pair of Hayes free throws to stave off the home team.

Brandon Thomas led the Vulcans with 11 points.

Dominican will head to Oahu to face Chaminade University (5-6/2-1) on Monday, Jan. 6. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at McCabe Gym in Honolulu. On Saturday, Chaminade pushed No. 7 Dixie State in an eventual 87-86 loss.