SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team put on quite the show in the Conlan Center on Thursday night. It was already Academic Night and the unveiling of the new Chilly the Penguin. To top things off, the Penguins rallied late and
Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to help lift the Penguins to an 81-77 victory over Chaminade.
Taplin dribbled around the left side of the floor and passed to Schwartz-Edmisten, who cut to the top of the key. With time expiring on the shot clock and 25 seconds left on the game clock, Schwartz-Edmisten hit a nothing-but-net three-pointer to give Dominican a 79-75 lead. Lee Bailey's layup cut the Penguins' lead to two but couldn't complete the three-point play.
Russell Davis came down with Bailey's missed free throw and got the ball to
Josh Armstrong, who was fouled. Armstrong made both of his free throws to make it a two-possession game with seven seconds to go.
After trailing by as much as 10 in the second half, the Penguins used a 14-point run to take their first lead of the second half and go ahead for good. Armstrong started the run with a three-pointer, then Taplin dished to
Matt Hayes on a fast break. Back-to-back layups from
Mathew Lipski tied the game, then Hayes' three-pointer from three feet behind the line sent the Conlan Center crowd to its feet as the Penguins grabbed their first lead of the second half, 74-71, with 2:51 to go. Hayes' bucket on the next possession extended the lead to five with under two minutes to go though a sloppy Dominican inbounds play led to a fast break layup for Kuany Kuany and cut the lead to one with a minute to go.
To begin the game, the Penguins spotted Chaminade a 4-0 lead though the game was close most of the first half. The momentum swung to the Silverswords at the three-minute mark of the first half. After Taplin gave Dominican a 33-32 lead, AJ Mathew answered with a three-pointer at the other end. Oscar Pedroso added another three on the next possesion and a pair of Kuany layups capped a ten-point swing. Two Taplin free throws and a Hayes three-pointer cut the deficit to four, 42-38, at the half.
Schwartz-Edmisten finished with a team-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 5-of-7 three-point shooting. His five three-pointers matched a career-high. Taplin scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, which broke the single-game mark for the Penguins in the Division II era, previously shared by Taplin (13). He also dished out eight assists. Despite picking up his fourth foul at the ten-minute mark and eventually fouling out, Hayes added 18 points on four three-pointers, six rebounds, and six assists. Lipski added 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block. Armstrong tallied nine points and Davis rounded out the Penguins' scoring with a fast break layup in the first two minutes of play.
Kuany scored a game-high 25 points for the Silverswords. Kevin Hu added 16 points off the bench. James Harper added a dozen points. Bailey, the Silverswords leading scorer, was limited to five points.
Before the game, the all-new Chilly the Penguin was introduced during starting lineups. At halftime, as part of "Academic Night," the Penguins' student-athletes were recognized for their dedication in the classroom and Dominican's fifth consecutive PacWest Academic Achievement Award. Director of Athletics
Brandon Leimbach, Senior Advisor for Strategy and Planning Hannah Rodriguez-Farrar, and Faculty Athletics Representative
Dr. Christopher Leeds presented the award to PSAAC President and women's softball player, senior Kayla Rodriguez. Chilly pulled the rope to unveil the newest banner in the Conlan Center.
Dominican and Chaminade's coaches wore sneakers on the sidelines as part of
Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers™ Awareness Week.
On Thursday, Jan. 29 the Penguins host Dixie State in the annual #BLACKOUT. All fans are encouraged to show their support for the Penguins by wearing black to the game. The men are set to follow the women at 7:30 p.m. Live coverage will be available at
dominicnathletics.com/live with audio provided by
radio.dominican.edu.
