MONTEREY, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball continued its strong start with an 82-73 victory Saturday afternoon over CSU Monterey Bay at the Otter Sports Complex.

Senior forward Cedric Thomas continued his run as the leading scorer for the Penguins (3-1) for the fourth straight game, racking up 16 points to go with four assists. Chris Williams II added 14 points on 60 percent shooting, while collecting five rebounds and four assists.

The Otters (0-4) held on during the first half and partially through the second, with the help of Koen Sapwell, knocking down 19 points on 50 percent shooting. Dominican overpowered CSUMB on both ends shooting 58.1 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from behind the arc, while holding the Otters to 38.5 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from behind the arc. The Penguins also put in 44 points in the paint.

The game was tight for the first 10 minutes as neither team held more than a one-possession lead until Jahvon Johnson laid a ball in and hit a free throw for an old-fashioned 3-point play to give CSUMB a 4-point cushion with 11:07 remaining. Dominican answered as Christian Futch laid one off the glass to cut the lead to two and followed with a dish off to Romeo Mays down low for the up and under, to tie the game at 22. 

Mays would stay in the loop, knocking down a 3-pointer to give the Penguins a 24-21 lead with almost eight minutes to go in the half. Dominican would not trail for the remainder of the game. The Otters tied the game twice, but C. Williams capped off a 10-1 run with a layup and a 3-pointer to close the half and send the Penguins into the locker room leading 40-31.

The Penguins continued to roll after the half, extending their lead to as many as 11 on a 3-pointer from Ezra Talbert. The Otters attacked the rim in a comeback attempt as Sapwell tipped a ball in and Joseph Bosetto laid in another to cut the lead to one with 12:50 remaining. 

Sam Averbuck laid a ball in and C. Williams added his second make from distance to end the Otter's run and send Dominican on one of their own. After Jordan Williams got into the mix with a one-handed putback, Averbuck followed with a 3-pointer to make it 61-50 in Dominican's favor with 10 minutes remaining. 

After the Otters cut the lead to six, C. Williams drove to the paint from the left wing and dished a ball to Futch for the dunk to retake a double-digit lead. Talbert kept the run going with a make from the top of arc and the Penguins used a 15-2 run to build the lead to as many as 19 with five minutes left on the clock. The Otters were never able to recover, as the Penguins cruised over the final five minutes.

The Penguins will return home to the Conlan Center Tuesday against Cal State East Bay at 7:30 p.m. PDT. The location of the event is subject to change due to the poor air quality in the San Rafael area. Any additional updates to the time and location of the event will be announced on dominicanathletics.com. Live video and stats will be available online.