SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team gave an early scare to No. 11 nationally-ranked Chico State but eventually fell 67-53 in the Penguin's home debut.

Dominican (1-2) had to face the Wildcats (2-1), predicted to repeat as CCAA Champions, without injured starters Josh Ramirez and Seth Turner. Henry Uwadiae made his first appearance as a Penguin and led the team with 12 points and three blocks. Jeremiah Gray and Reverend Maduakor each added 10 points. Josh Armstrong had eight points, and team-highs of seven rebounds and three assists.

The Penguins led 14-7 eight minutes into play thanks to an 8-0 run but the lead dissolved over the next two minutes and Michael Bethea Jr.'s three-pointer tied the game at 18-18.

A Gray layup stopped the bleeding momentarily but back-to-back Jalen McFerren gave the Wildcats a 22-20 lead with 4:52 to go. Dominican went cold over the final minutes of the first half, scoring just five more points on 2-of-7 shooting, and trailed 35-25 at the break.

A Maduakor dunk with eight minutes to go trimmed the deficit to 10. The Wildcats pushed their lead to 17 with just over four minutes to play and Dominican got no closer than 13 after that.

Isaiah Ellis scored a game-high 14 points and reeled in six rebounds for the Wildcats. Corey Silverstrom scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Both teams shot 43.1 percent from the field, though the Wildcats took seven more attempts (25-of-58) than Dominican (22-of-51). Chico State got to the free throw line 22 times compared to just 10 for the Penguins.

The Penguins hit the road for two games, at Humboldt State on Wednesday, Nov. 23 and at Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday, Nov. 25, both at 7 p.m. Dominican returns home on Thursday, Dec. 1 to host Holy Names. That's the team's PacWest Conference opener and White Ice Night. Fans are encouraged to wear white to the game and the first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free PacWest T-shirt.