HILO, Hawaii – Dominican men's basketball fell Sunday night to the University of Hawai'i at Hilo 83-79 in a tight contest at Afook Chinen Auditorium. 

Sophomore center Christian Futch finished with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, while providing a strong defensive presence with five blocks. Sophomore guard Christopher Williams II shot 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from the 3-point line to finish with 12 points and five rebounds. Senior forward Cedric Thomas recorded a near double-double with 20 points, nine assists and three rebounds. Turnovers proved costly down the stretch for the Penguins (7-17, 3-15 PacWest) as the Vulcans (10-10, 8-8 PacWest) turned 16 turnovers into 21 points.

Larry Bush scored 19 points to go with six rebounds for Hawai'i Hilo. James Griffin was close behind with 16 points and six rebounds, while Harrison Kupaa went 6 for 10 from the field to chip in 14 points and seven rebounds.

Dominican and UHH traded the lead through the early minutes of the first half until the Vulcans created some separation when Jordan Graves collected an offensive rebound and put-back to give them a 16-12 lead with 10:49 remaining. Hilo's Jalen Thompson drained a transition 3-pointer to build its largest lead of the night at 25-19 and force the Penguins to burn a timeout with 8:01 left in the half.

Dominican responded out of the timeout and C. Williams sank a 3-pointer from the top of the arc off an inbounds play to bring them within at the 4:42 mark of the half. The Penguins forced a turnover on the next possession and Sam Averbuck found the open space in transition for another make behind the arc to give Dominican a 29-27 lead. 

Ezra Talbert drove down the baseline and swung it to C. Williams for a corner 3 to keep the Penguins out in front down the stretch. Dominican would hold the slim lead the rest of the way, but a late foul sent Tom Power to the foul line to knock down two with 1.4 seconds left and trim the Penguins lead to 36-35 at the break. 

C. Williams helped Dominican continue to build on its lead early in the second half with another 3-pointer and Averbuck added a layup to keep the momentum going as it led 41-37. Midway through the half, the Vulcans turned up the gas as Graves took away a Penguin pass and took it coast-to-coast to push them back into the lead at 44-43. Jordan Williams fueled a 6-0 Penguins run with pull-up jumper from the top of the key and then found Talbert in the paint for a layup to make it 61-55 with 10:41 left on the clock. 

The Vulcans slowly chipped away and Graves grabbed a crucial offensive rebound and drew a shooting foul to retake the 69-68 lead with five minutes left in the game. Thomas drew a foul and tied the game at 71 with a pair of free throws a minute later, but the Vulcans pulled to a two-possession lead as Harrison fought his way into the paint on three consecutive possessions to make it 80-74 with one minute to go.

The Penguins return home Saturday to face Fresno Pacific University at 4 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center. Live stats and video will be available online.