Box Score OAKLAND, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball fell 68-62 in its Pacific West Conference opener Thursday against Holy Names at Tobin Gymnasium.
 
Jeremiah Gray led all players with 34 points to go with 12 rebounds for the Penguins (1-7, 0-1 PacWest). Jordan Williams added 11 points and four assists, while Christian Futch finished with eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
 
Jamie Strong rode hot-shooting from behind the arc to 18 points for the Hawks (4-5, 1-0 PacWest), while Marcelas Perry finished with 13 points.
 
Dominican shot 35.7 percent from the field and held Holy Names to 35 percent shooting, but the Hawks connected on 43.5 percent of their shots behind the arc.
 
Alonzo Taylor scored the first five points of the game to spark a 10-0 opening run for Holy Names in the first five minutes of play. The Penguins stopped the run and slowly began to work their way back into the game. Futch tipped in his own miss and Gray hit a 3-pointer to start a 14-0 run to end the half.
 
Dominican's defense was stellar in the run not allowing Holy Names to score over the final eight minutes of play and Gray hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining to give the Penguins the 27-24 lead at the break.
 
Gray continued his momentum into the second half scoring nine of Dominican's first 13 points of the half and his dunk with 14:36 remaining gave the Penguins a 40-31 lead. The Hawks refused to go away and back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by Strong gave them the 44-42 lead at the halfway mark of the period.
 
After Futch cut the deficit to one with a layup, Andre Green answered on the other end and Perry added a 3-pointer to extend Holy Names lead to 60-54 with 3:09 remaining. The Penguins were unable to get much closer over the final minutes.
 
Dominican will take the court again Saturday, hosting Notre Dame de Namur at 4 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center. Live stats and video will be available online.