OAKLAND, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball was unable to come back from an early deficit, falling 71-58 to Holy Names University on Sunday night at Tobin Gymnasium.

Senior forward Cedric Thomas continued to be the Penguins' (5-4, 1-3 PacWest) go-to player as he finished with 23 points. Sophomore guard Jordan Williams was second on the team with nine points to go with two assists and three rebounds. The Hawks held the Penguins to just 38.2 percent from the field, and 21.4 percent from behind the arc. 

Holy Names (2-6, 1-2 PacWest) earned just their second win of the season with a very balanced attack with 11 different players scoring a field goal. Andre Green led the Hawks, nearing a double-double with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Jacob Dean added 10 points and four rebounds. 

The Hawks were off to a running start as they opened on an 11-2 with the help of back-to-back 3-pointers from Jewels Sanders and Bobby Kazar. Dominican fought its way back into the game as Jared Harper knocked down a 3-pointer in transition to cut the deficit to 14-7. 

Holy Names quickly extended its lead to double digits when Cameron Fini and Dean put in another set of back-to-back makes behind the arc for the 25-12 advantage. Thomas retaliated with a personal 8-0 run, cutting it back to seven once again with three minutes to spare in the half, but the Penguins were unable to string together any more runs and headed into the break trailing 36-26.

Ezra Talbert and J. Williams kept Dominican within single digits early in the second half, but the closest they would get for the remainder of the game was eight points. Holy Names continued a full-court press well into the second half that flustered Dominican on the offensive end. 

Kyvonte Davis fought for his own rebound and a putback with eight minutes remaining to push the Hawks lead to 61-42. On the following possession, Jordan Bryant had a block on one end and followed with a layup on the other to give Holy Names its largest lead of the night at 21 points. Thomas ended the night capping off another personal 6-2 run with a pair of old-fashioned 3-point plays, but it was too late for any comeback. 

Dominican will begin a six-game homestand on Monday, Dec. 16, against Azusa Pacific at 7:30 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center. Dominican will be partnering with San Rafael Santa Cop to collect toy donations for the children of Marin, Sonoma and Butte counties. Each donation is worth a ticket into the game. Live video and stats will be available online.