SAN FRANCISCO – Dominican men's basketball kicked off their season Friday night with a thrilling 79-71 victory in overtime over Sonoma State University at The Swamp.

Senior Cedric Thomas led the Penguins (1-0) with a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds to go with three assists. Jordan Williams was a huge piece of Dominican's success on the offensive and defensive side, totaling 14 points and five steals. Chris Williams II and Ezra Talbert each had 12 points and were 2-4 from behind the arch. 

Sonoma State's (0-1) Isaac Davidson lit up the court for the Seawolves, knocking down 10-14 from the field, including 5-6 from behind the arc, to finish with 32 points and seven rebounds.  Armani Nicolis added 13 points for Sonoma.

The Penguins took a 21-10 lead in the first half, following a 11-2 run as J. Williams energized them with three steals and Thomas scored six points for the Penguins. The Penguins would go up as many as 13 in the first half, but the Seawolves cut their deficit to two nearing the end of the half following a pair of 3-pointers by Davidson. Dominican's J. Williams would get the last bucket before heading to the locker room with the Penguins leading 34-30.

The Seawolves started the second half on a 9-0 run, seeing the first lead change of the game as Davidson hit a 3-pointer off a fast break to give SSU the 39-36 advantage. As the half continued, the score remained tight and there were 10 lead changes. With three minutes left in regulation, Thomas drew a foul to make it to the line, where he nailed a free throw to put the Penguins ahead by one. Sonoma quickly countered, forcing a foul on Dominican and making a free throw of its own to even the score. Dominican's Sam Averbuck made a move around his defender in the paint to go up for two to give the Penguins the lead once more at 65-63, but it would once again be short-lived. 

Sonoma's Lewayne Grant stole the ball away from Williams with a little over a minute to go in regulation, giving the Seawolves possession with a chance to take the lead. Jordan Hickman drew a foul and knocked down both shots to give Sonoma 66-65 lead. J. Williams countered on the other end, laying the ball up in paint to give Dominican the 67-66 lead with a minute to go in regulation. Thomas drew a foul with 30 seconds on the clock and sank both his attempts, giving the advantage back to the Penguins, 69-68. With six seconds left on the clock, Lewayne went up for a layup, missed, and Sonoma's Wesley Gilbert grabbed the rebound. Futch fouled Gilbert sending him to the line, where Gilbert knocked down the first free throw, but missed the second to send the game into overtime. 

The Penguins jumped ahead early in overtime, as Averbuck knocked down a jumper for the 71-69 lead. The Penguins and Seawolves traded fouls, bringing each team to the line to keep the score tight until Dominican went on an 8-0 run, highlighted by a fast-break layup from Futch. The Seawolves sent the Penguins to the line to make them earn it down the stretch, and Dominican sealed the game from the charity stripe.

The Penguins will return to the court Saturday night against host San Francisco State. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PDT. Live video and stats will be available online.