SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – As the fans celebrated Beach Night at the Conlan Center, the Dominican University of California men's basketball team put together its best shooting effort of the season.
 
The Penguins shot 55.9 percent from the floor, collecting a 90-76 home win over Fresno Pacific. Dominican held a narrow 44-43 edge at halftime but dominated the second half, outscoring the Sunbirds 46-33 in the final 20 minutes of action.
 
With the result, the Penguins improve to 10-15 overall and 9-10 in PacWest action. FPU falls to 6-13 in conference play.
 
Dominican outrebounded the visitors 44-26 and limited the Sunbirds to a 23.1-percent showing from three-point range. Four Penguins scored in double figures, including a 28-point performance from Jeremiah Gray.
 
Sinking nine of his 11 attempts, Josh Ramirez added 22 points. Also tallying double-digit points were Reverend Maduakor with 12 and Josh Armstrong contributing 10. Serving as the catalysts to the offense, Armstrong and Ryo Tawatari dished six assists apiece.
 
The two squads traded the lead through the early going, before the Sunbirds pushed out to a 15-6 edge with just more than six minutes played. A dunk from Gray snapped the FPU run and the Penguins stole the momentum away.
 
The Sunbirds held a lead in the final minute of the first half but a jumper by Tawatari with seven seconds left put Dominican in front 44-43 heading into the break. After FPU tied the game 49-49 just a few minutes into the second half, the Penguins rattled off a 14-point run to put the visitors in the rearview mirror.
 
That stretch of points featured a pair of threes from Gray and a pair of dunks from Henry Uwadiae. From that point on, the closest the Sunbirds could get was a nine-point gap before Dominican finished with the 14-point victory.

On Saturday at 7:30 p.m., the Penguins will host Hawaii Hilo in the regular season finale.  Prior to Saturday's game, Dominican will honor the academic and athletic achievements of its senior class in a pregame ceremony.