Box Score CARSON, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball fell 77-74 in the final seconds of a tight game Tuesday against Cal State Dominguez Hills at The Torodome.
 
The Penguins (0-3) shot 47.2 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from behind the arc, but were outrebounded 36-27 and the Toros (1-2) capitalized in the second half to swing the momentum.
 
Senior Reverend Maduakor led Dominican with 20 points on 70 percent shooting, while senior Jeremiah Gray chipped in 16 points and five rebounds. CSUDH was led by Jonathan Nichols 23 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
 
With the Toros trailing by two late in the game, Colten Kresl hit a 3-pointer to spark a 9-2 run and give them a 67-62 lead with five minutes remaining. The game remained close as the teams continued to trade baskets for the next four minutes.
 
Freshman Chris Williams came up with two clutch 3-pointers of his own, the first cut the lead to two with 1:13 remaining and the second tied the game at 74 with 20 seconds left on the clock. However, Nichols answered with a make from behind the arc with 8 seconds left to give the CSUDH the 77-74 victory.
 
Freshman Christian Futch got the Penguins off to a strong start in the game collecting an offensive rebound and a put-back jumper, while freshman Jordan Williams followed with a 3 to keep the momentum going. Gray blocked Nichols on the other side of the court and J. Williams hit his second shot from behind the arc to make it 12-4 with 15:22 left in the half.
 
Maduakor continued to build the Dominican lead with a personal 5-0 run to make it 18-9 lead two minutes later. The Toros battled back slowly to close the gap to 25-22 on a Nichols layup with 7:34 to go, but sophomore Xavier Williams hit a 3 on the next possession to extend the Penguin lead back to six. Maduakor scored four points in 6-0 run to extend lead back to nine with 4:12 remaining, but CSUDH ended the half on a 6-2 run to cut it to 37-33 at the break.
 
Maduakor and Gray scored all nine Penguin points to start the second half and pushed the lead back to nine at 46-37, but the Toros chipped away at the lead and Mikey Hatfield gave them a 52-51 lead on a layup that capped a 7-1 run with 11:31 remaining. The Penguins were able to retake a small lead for the next few minutes, but CSUDH held them without any significant runs for the remainder of the game.
 
Dominican will return to Northern California to take on Minnesota State University-Mankato on Friday at 5:30 p.m. PST in the first game of the Ron Logsdon Basketball Classic hosted by Sonoma State. Live stats and video will be available online.