AZUSA, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's basketball team held off a pesky Azusa Pacific team Saturday afternoon, winning 85-81 for their first-ever victory in the Felix Event Center.
 
In four previous trips to Azusa since the Cougars joined the PacWest Conference in 2012, Dominican left with a loss, including a 96-94 double overtime heartbreaker last year. Fourth-year senior captain Josh Ramirez, who played prep ball at nearby Ayala High School, was hoping this homecoming would be different. However, it was Dominican's first-year junior transfer Jeremiah Gray who refused to lose. Gray scored the Penguins' first five points as they raced ahead for the second straight game, leading 8-2 after ninety seconds.
 
The Cougars battled back to take their first lead of the game at the thirteen-minute mark on a Will Ferris layup to make it 18-16. Solid play from Ramirez and senior center Henry Uwadiae kept the Penguins close, but the Cougars steadily grew the lead to six with a healthy diet of free-throws and a handful of their 13 three-pointers on the night. With 1:24 remaining in the first half, Dominican junior guard Reverend Maduakor leaked out for a fast break dunk and followed it up with a three-pointer from the corner a minute later to cut the APU lead to 39-38 at the break.
 
Azusa Pacific (10-12/5-7 PacWest) increased their lead to five in the first minute of the second half, but the Penguins answered with an 18-4 run over the next five minutes. The run was sparked by back-to-back Gray three-pointers and a pair of Uwadiae buckets, giving Dominican a 58-49 lead.
 
Dominican (6-14/5-9 PacWest) briefly pushed the lead to double-digits after a pair of Ryo Tawatari jumpers, but six straight Cougar points cut it to 62-58 with nine minutes to play. In a pivotal series, senior point guard Quentin Mendoza ended the Cougar run by tracking down a loose ball around midcourt and firing a pass to Maduakor for an easy layup. Two minutes later, Mendoza hit a huge three from the top of the key to give the Penguins their largest lead of the game at 71-59.
 
APU then hit three three-pointers in a ninety-second span, including two from leading scorer Corey Langerveld, before cutting the Dominican lead to 79-77 with a minute left in the game. The Penguins needed a score against the energized Cougar defense and put the ball in the hands of their leading scorer with the shot clock winding down. Gray, who scored 16 points in the second half, dribbled to the right wing and pulled up from 25 feet for the game-clinching three-pointer. The Penguins outscored the Cougars 30-16 in the paint on the night and only had 10 turnovers — their lowest total of the season.
 
Gray bounced back from a rough shooting performance Thursday to put in 23 points on 6-of-12 three-point shooting. Maduakor pitched in 15 points and five rebounds while Ramirez tallied nine points in front of his hometown fans. Uwadiae scored a career-high 14 points while also pulling down nine boards. Corey Langerveld led the Cougars with 20 points on 6-of-7 three-point shooting.
 
The Dominican road warriors have a week off before making the trip down to Fresno Pacific on Saturday, February 4. You can follow along with the 4:30 p.m. tip-off at dominicanathletics.com/live and twitter.com/dominican_mbb.