Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball defeated the University of Hawaii at Hilo 83-67 Saturday at the Conlan Center.
Freshman
Jordan Williams led five Penguins (5-13, 4-7 PacWest) in double-figures, finishing with 16 points. Junior CJ Thomas added 15 points and eight rebounds. Eric Wattree led the Vulcans (4-13, 3-7 PacWest) with 18 points.
The Penguins got off to a good start with a pair of 3-pointers, one from sophomore
Xavier Williams and the other from senior
Reverend Maduakor, to provide them with an early 6-3 lead. Thomas then finished and-1 on the break to make it 9-3 and senior
Jeremiah Gray later made it 15-9 with a turnaround jumper in the paint.
Jordan Williams hit a tough runner in the paint to help Dominican to a 23-15 lead at the
under-8 media timeout.
The Penguins' lead grew to double-digits on a putback from freshman
Romeo Mays and Grey later stretched the lead to 12 on a layup to make it 29-17. A couple of minutes later,
Jordan Williams spun away from a Vulcan defender to draw a foul, putting in a pair of free throws to put Dominican ahead 31-20. UHH then went on a 9-0 run, capped by a buzzer-beating jumper from Cleo Cain, to trim the Penguins' lead to 31-29 heading into the break.
The UHH run continued after halftime as Eric Wattree hit a floater to tie the game and followed with a 3-pointer shortly after, giving the Vulcans a 34-33 edge and forcing Dominican to take a timeout. After the Penguins quickly regained the lead, Jared Roffler tied it back up at 37-37 with a triple.
Jordan Williams answered right back with an and-1 in transition and
Xavier Williams followed with a 3-pointer as Dominican held a 43-41 advantage at the under-16 media timeout.
A pair of baskets in the paint from Mays and Maduakor helped the Penguins maintain their lead at 51-43 at the under-12 media break. Freshman Chris Williams II then buried a 3-pointer and
Xavier Williams put in a transition layup on a feed from Gray to make it 56-45. A couple of minutes later, Mays stole an inbounds feed, then tracked down the loose ball before finishing off a spin move, stretching Dominican's lead to 60-47. Chris Williams II followed with a corner triple to make it a 16-point game.
A left-handed putback from Maduakor made it 65-50 but UHH fought to get back in it as a corner 3-pointer from Randan Berinobis trimmed the Vulcans' deficit to 11. The Penguins responded quickly to seal the deal as
Jordan Williams found Thomas alone for an easy layup. On Dominican's next possession,
Jordan Williams pump faked to get a couple of UHH defenders in the air before sinking a turnaround jumper, helping the Penguins to win going away.
Dominican finished the game shooting 53.7 percent, while holding the Vulcans to 33.3 percent shooting. The Penguins assisted on 19 of their 29 makes, while outscoring UHH 36-20 in the paint.
Dominican takes the court again Wednesday as they travel to Notre Dame de Namur for a 7:30 tip. Live stats and video will be available online.
