NAMPA, Idaho — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team dropped a tough non-conference contest, 88-81, in overtime at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.
The Penguins (5-3) had six players in double figure scoring but went just 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) from the field in overtime and 40 percent (30-of-75) for the game. Following suit, Dominican, which has often lived or died by the three-pointer this season, shot just 1-of-6 (16.7 percent) from deep in the final five minutes. The Crusaders (4-2) didn't shoot particularly well either in overtime (2-of-6, 33.3 percent), but scored the first five points of overtime. That forced the Penguins to begin fouling with 2:20 and NNU made 13 of 20 free throws to pull away.
Dominican overcame an early six-point deficit and tied the game on a
Josh Ramirez layup. Junior
Seth Turner gave the Penguins a 32-28 lead but NNU finished the half on a 10-1 lead and took a 38-33 halftime lead. The deficit grew to nine early in the second half but Dominican tied the game again with 12:47 to go on a
Reverend Maduakor jumper. Turner gave the Penguins the lead with 7:42 to go and led by as much as four. However, Nikola Prvulj's three-pointer with nine seconds tied the game at 71-71 and a Hayes jumper in Dominican's final possession of regulation didn't fall.
Juniors
Ryo Tawatari and Ramirez, and senior Christopher Scwhartz-Edmisten all had 14 points apiece for the Penguins. Turner came off the bench for 13 points and senior
Matt Hayes had 11 points. Hayes had a game-high nine rebounds and Schwartz-Edmisten pulled in eight rebounds.
Mike Wright led all players with 26 points for the Crusaders. He was 9-of-17 from the field with five three-pointers.
Dominican returns to the PacWest action on Thursday, Dec. 17 versus Academy of Art. The two teams will face off at 7:30 p.m. at Kezar Pavilion in the second game of a twinbill with the women's teams. Live stats and pay-per-view video provided by ART U will be available at
dominicanathletics.com/live.
