SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team suffered a setback in the tight PacWest race on Monday night with an 86-76 loss to UH Hilo.

The loss puts Dominican at 11-9 on the season and 7-6 in PacWest play. That puts Dominican  and Chaminade in tie for the sixth and final seed in the upcoming PacWest Championships in Irvine, California. Dominican lost by five to the Silverswords in a mid-January matchup in Hawaii. The two teams will clash on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Conlan Center.

Dominican led 38-35 at halftime but exerted a ton of energy to get to that point. The Penguins trailed the first 17 minutes of the contest. UHH (5-12/5-8 PacWest) used a 14-4 run to take a 13-point lead at one point, to which the Penguins countered with a 10-point run to trim the lead to 29-26 with five minutes to go. Three minutes later, Dominican tied the game on a Ryo Tawatari jumper. Reverend Maduakor hit a three-pointer at the one-minute mark and sent the Penguins into the locker room with the lead.

The lead only lasted barely three minutes in the second half. Four quick points from Randan Berinobis and a three-pointer from Parker Farris gave UH Hilo the lead for good. Dominican racked up 22 fouls in the game which resulted in 23-of-32 free throw night for the Vulcans. THhe Penguins' leading scorer, Josh Ramirez, fouled in the final minute. The Penguins shot just 38.9 percent (14-of-36) over the final 20 minutes while the Vulcans shot at a clip of 63.6 percent (14-of-22).

Ramirez finished his night with 16 points. Matt Hayes added 13 points and a team-high six rebounds. Ryo Tawatari and Christopher Schwartz-Edmisten each added a dozen points apiece and Seth Turner had 10 points.

Salim Gloyd made led all players with 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Vulcans. Farris added 23 points and Lockett had 18. All but five of the Vulcans' points were scored by their starters.

At halftime, PacWest Commissioner Bob Hogue Dominican President Mary B. Marcy with the University's record sixth-consecutive PacWest Academic Achievement Award, as well as the 2014-15 PacWest Make-A-Wish Award. President Marcy also announced a new $2,500 scholarship, through the generosity of Dominican University of California Trustee John Boneparth. To be eligible, students must attend Dominican's four remaining home basketball doubleheaders and swipe in with their Penguin Pass upon entrance. The winner will be announced at the end of the season.

Live stats and pay-per-view video of Thursday's game versus Chaminade will be available at dominicanathletics.com/live with live audio provided by Penguin Radio and the student broadcasters at radio.dominican.edu.