Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball used a strong defensive effort to hold off Concordia University Irvine for an 86-78 victory Monday night at CU Arena.
Junior guard
Jaelen Ragsdale led the Penguins (6-19, 6-13 PACWest) with 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Senior forward
Lazar Djurovic was not far behind with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting including hitting both of his shots from behind the arc and he also finished with seven rebounds.
Andre Green led the Eagles (19-8, 13-5 PACWest) with 25 points and six rebounds. Robert McCoy added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Kayle Knuckles finished with 12 points.
Jordan Williams sparked the Penguins early with a 3-pointer and Djurovic had a layup and 3-pointer of his own in a 10-2 opening run. The Eagles chipped away to bring it within two with 12:12 remaining in the half after Mike Mellinger and Jamel White knocked down a pair of shots behind the arc. Djurovic ended CUI's run with a 3-pointer of his own, but the game remained close.
Green closed out a 6-0 run for CUI with a midrange jumper to take the 18-17 lead with 7:30 left on the clock and both teams continued to battle for the lead for the next six minutes with little separation. Dominican ended on a tear as Ragsdale and Williams hit back-to-back layups while
Romeo Mays threw down his second dunk of the game before the buzzer to give Dominican the 32-27 lead.
Robert McCoy capped off a 6-0 run with a dunk for the Eagles bringing the score within one at 37-36 three minutes into the second half. Green finally gave CUI back the lead at 42-39 with four free throw makes, but Ragsdale started an 11-2 run with a layup and free throw makes of his own to make it 54-46 in favor of the Penguins at the midway point of the half.
Sam Averbuck ignited an 8-0 run with a jumper just inside the arc and then Williams found him in the paint for a layup as Dominican extended its lead into double-digits at 66-53 with 6:35 left in the game. A layup from Green brought CUI within six points, but William's caught fire for the Penguins with a layup and jumper along with a steal right to put Dominican back up nine with 2:31 left in the half. This was all the room the Penguins would need as they held off the Eagles late barrage for the win.
Dominican returns home to host Azusa Pacific as it celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Conlan Center Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PST. Live video and stats will be available online.
