IRVINE, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team lost 79-74 at Concordia Irvine Thursday night, despite a frantic comeback in the game's final minutes.  
 
Looking to build off one of their best performances of the season against Cal Baptist Saturday, the Penguins came out of the gates strong in the first leg of their southern California road trip. Dominican raced out to a 14-2 lead with five players scoring in the first five minutes. However, the Eagles answered right back with a 10-0 run of their own. Dominican rim protector Henry Uwadiae picked up two quick fouls and was limited to six minutes all night as the Eagles relentlessly attacked the rim.
 
While the Dominican bench was outscored 49-20 by the Concordia reserves, sophomore Cedric Thomas had a career-night for the Penguins, scoring seven straight Penguin points to build a 21-17 lead with 7:54 to play in the first half.
 
Concordia Irvine (11-8/7-4 PacWest) responded once again with a 13-1 run, taking their first lead of the game in the process. The Eagles hit two of their eight three-pointers on the night during the pivotal stretch, energizing the crowd while Ryo Tawatari kept the Penguins close with some timely buckets. The senior point guard had six of Dominican's nine points in the final eight minutes of the first half, including a buzzer-beating jumper to cut the Concordia lead to 36-30 at the break.
 
Dominican (5-14/4-9 PacWest) fought through turnovers and foul trouble over the first eight minutes of the second half, staying within reach as Concordia slowly grew the lead to double-digits. But a 14-4 Eagle run led by Brian Chambers and Dalton Patchen left the Penguins in a 20-point hole at the eight-minute media timeout.
 
Trailing by 16 points with under three minutes to play, the resilient Penguins battled back with an 11-0 run to get within five points with 41 seconds remaining. A couple missed Eagle free-throws allowed Josh Armstrong to convert a pair of quick layups, cutting the lead to 77-74 in the final seconds, but the Penguins ran out of time in CU Arena.
 
Tawatari led Dominican with 16 points while Thomas had a career-high 14 points. Armstrong finished the night with 13 points and seven rebounds. Leading scorer Jeremiah Gray was held without a three-point field goal for the first time all season.
 
The Penguins still have an opportunity to make it back to Irvine for the PacWest Championships in five weeks. They look to turn the tide Saturday as they travel to Azusa Pacific for a 3 p.m. showdown with the Cougars.