HONOLULU — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team lost another close game on Saturday in a 76-76 PacWest Conference loss at Chaminade.

The Penguins (3-7/2-2 PacWest) played tight with the Silverswords (6-5/3-2 PacWest) through the first 16 minutes. Tied 25-25, the Silverswords came out of the media timeout and went on an 11-3 run to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room.

Jeremiah Gray got the Penguins going in the right direction to begin the second half with a dunk, then hit a three to cut the lead to three. Ryo Tawatari's steal led to a fast break layup for Quentin Mendoza and the lead stood at just one, 18-17. However, Chaminade responded with a three-ball from Kiran Shastri and a Rohndell Goodwin layup. Austin Pope's layup pushed the lead back to eight and it grew to as large as a dozen. The Penguins trailed by four with under three minutes to go and Henry Uwadiae's putback cut the lead to two, 72-70, with 1:41 to go. The big man followed that with a block at the other end, then was fouled. He missed his free throw but the Penguins came away with the rebound, only to turn the ball over with 34 seconds to go. Not yet in the bonus, the Penguins were forced to foul four times before sending Shastri to the free throw line. He made both and Reverend Maduakor scored a layup to cut the lead back to two. Shastri made two more free throws and Gray responded with a three-pointer that cut the lead to 76-75 with seven seconds to go. Goodwin missed a free throw and Uwadiae got the rebound but the Penguins were unable to get a final shot off.

Gray and Shastri led all players with 23 points apiece. Maduakor added 16 points and six rebounds. Cedric Thomas came off the bench and matched a career-high 11 points. Uwadiae had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Dominican will looks to salvage the trip at Hawai'i Hilo (3-6/2-2 PacWest) on Monday, Dec. 19. Tipoff is slated for 9:30 p.m. Pacific.