SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Senior forward
Cedric Thomas sank a game-winning 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds to lift Dominican men's basketball team to a 75-73 come-from-behind victory on senior night Saturday night against Holy Names University at the Conlan Center.
Not only did Thomas make the winning shot of the game, he led all scorers with 26 points, including a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc, to go with six rebounds. Junior guard
Sam Averbuck also came through in the clutch for the Penguins (8-18, 4-16 PacWest), finishing with 17 points, four rebounds and three steals. Sophomore center
Christian Futch neared a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Alonzo Taylor finished as the leading scorer for the Hawks (12-14, 11-10 PacWest) with 18 points to go with five rebounds and two steals, while Andre Green added 15 points. The difference in an almost statistically even battle came down to 3-point shooting with Dominican knocking down eight from behind the arc on 47.1 percent shooting and HNU finishing with seven makes on 38.9 percent.
With the teams neck-and-neck in the closing minutes of the game
Jordan Williams grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast to complete an old-fashioned 3-point play and give the Penguins the 72-68 lead with 1:31 remaining. The Hawks fought back and after Cameron Fini hit a pair of free throws Green stole the inbounds and dished it to Taylor for the equalizer with one minute remaining.
Futch blocked a shot by Rob Fuller with 17.1 seconds remaining and the game tied to give Dominican a shot at the victory. After Thomas was denied on an initial drive into the lane on the final possession
Christopher Williams II drew the defense in as he went down the baseline and swung it back to Thomas behind the arc for his third 3-pointer of the game and bring the crowd and home bench to its feet for the 75-72 lead with just 3.5 on the clock. The Penguins chose to foul and not allow the Hawks a chance to equalize with Thomas grabbing the rebound on an intentionally missed free throw to seal the game.
The teams traded buckets throughout most of the first half until HNU forced a back-to-back turnovers with a full-court press forcing the Penguins to two straight turnovers and build a 21-15 lead on a 6-point run. The Penguins answered immediately as Averbuck hit a 3-pointer from the corner to gave Dominican the one-point lead. Averbuck continued the 14-2 run as he drove the baseline for another layup and Thomas followed with a pullup 3-pointer to make it 29-23 with 7:01 left in the half.
The Penguins were able to push the lead into double digits as they took advantage of the aggressive Hawk defense to make six free-throws for a 41-28 lead with 2:35 remaining in the half. HNU was able to chip away at its deficit and Taylor made it 43-37 at the break with a buzzer beating 3-pointer.
After the teams traded points for the first four minutes of the game, Jewels Sanders and Green hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Hawks and they used a 15-0 run to take the 58-51 lead with 12:36 left on the clock. Futch ended Dominican's scoring drought as he backed his defender into the paint for a hook shot to cut the deficit to five. The Penguins continued to chip away and Futch grabbed an offensive board and scored the putback to close the gap to two before Thomas cashed in on a pair of free throws to tie the game at 61 with six minutes remaining.
The Penguins will hit the road for their final games of the season, starting with Biola University on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. PST at Chase Gymnasium. Live video and stats will be available online.
