SAN DIEGO — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team suffered another close road lose to a top team in the nation on Monday night, this time 63-58 at the hands of Point Loma.

It was a tough three-game road trip for the Penguins, who dropped all three contests by a combined 15 points to a pair of nationally-ranked teams in No. 11 California Baptist, No. 14 Azusa Pacific and, Point Loma, which received votes in the latest NCAA Division II rankings.

Dominican climbed back from a 14-point deficit and went into the locker room facing a 31-25 disadvantage. However, the Penguins evened the game with the first six points of the second half. Matt Hayes drove the lane and kicked out to Josh Ramirez, who buried the three on the left side to tie the game at 31-31. From there, the Penguins would grab a 38-35 lead on another three-ball from the left side, this time from the hand of Dominique Taplin at the 13-minute mark. After Jonny Bates' three-pointer tied the game for the tenth time, at 54-54 with 1:45 left, Hayden Lescault answered with a three-point play at the other end to give Point Loma the lead for good. With time winding down, Dominican was forced to foul. A pair of missed free throws by Markek Klaasen left the door open for Dominican to tie the game at 22 seconds. Josh Ramirez came down with the rebound but at the other end, the ball slipped out of Taplin's hand and right into the hands of the Point Loma defense. Dominican was forced to foul and after a pair of Lescault makes, had no chance to tie the game with 1.5 seconds remaining.

Bates finished with a career-high 16 points, 13 in the first half, with four three-pointers. Taplin finished with 12 points. Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and pulled down five rebounds. Matt Hayes finished with six points and game-highs of seven rebounds and five assists.

Lescault led the Sea Lions with 20 points and was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line. Klassen added 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Dominican returns to San Rafael to host a five-game homestand featuring three Hawaii teams — one of which is No. 18 BYU-Hawaii, Dixie State, and Fresno Pacific. The homestand will also feature several promotions, including the debut of Chilly the Penguin's all-new look during the doubleheader on Thursday, Jan. 22. The homestand begins on Saturday, Jan. 17 vs. UH Hilo. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at dominicanathletics.com/live with the call provided by radio.dominican.edu.