HONOLULU – Dominican men's basketball held the lead for most of the first half but ultimately fell 64-57 to Hawai'i Pacific University on Wednesday night at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.

Sam Averbuck led all scorers with 15 points and five rebounds, going 5-for-9 from 3-point range for the Penguins (7-15, 3-13 PacWest). Ezra Talbert added 14 points, three rebounds and two blocks, while going 6-of-11 from the field.

The Sharks (6-15, 3-13 PacWest) outrebounded Dominican by 11, including 13 on the offensive end for 15 second-chance points. HPU also held a 13 point advantage in bench points. Ronald Blain ended the night as the Sharks' leading scorer with 14 points to go with four rebounds and two assists. Darnell Bettis added 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.

HPU started the game strong capitalizing on three offensive rebounds to build a 10-3 lead with Blain and Neema Namdar each connecting on deep threes. The Penguins responded with seven unanswered after Averbuck connected on a 3-pointer to spark the run and Romeo Mays capitalized on a Shark turnover with a layup to tie the game with 11:52 left in the half.

Dominican continued to be the aggressor after the 12-minute media timeout as Jared Harper dished it to Lazar Djurovic on the perimeter for three to give the Penguins their first lead of the night. Jordan Williams followed with a fastbreak layup on the next possession to keep the run going. Averbuck capped off the 21-4 run with a 3-pointer from the corner to give Dominican the 24-14 lead with 7:42 until the break.

The Sharks seized the momentum in the final eight minutes of the half, scoring six straight to cut the deficit to just four points as Daniel Melifonwu followed a missed layup with a putback dunk. The Penguins managed only two more points in the half and Bettis capped the 14-2 run with a layup in the final 10 seconds to give HPU the 28-26 lead at the half.

The Sharks were able to capitalize on five Dominican turnovers early in the second half to go on an 8-0 run and take a 43-35 lead with nine minutes left. The run proved to be the turning point of the game as HPU would hold the lead for the remainder of the contest. Scott Ulaneo completed an old-fashioned 3-point play to extend the lead to as many as 11 in the final four minutes of action. Averbuck connected once again from downtown to cut the deficit to four points with 42 seconds left in regulation as Dominican made one last push, but the Sharks closed the game out from the charity stripe, going 5-for-6.

The Penguins return to the court Friday to take on Chaminade University at 7:30 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. Live video and stats will be available online.