The Dominican men's basketball team secured their first win of the season after defeating the Academy of Art 77-73 on the road, sending a clear statement to the rest of the conference after receiving the second lowest ranking in the PacWest preseason poll. 
 
The first possession of the season was picture perfect as Jaelen Ragsdale tallied a block on defense before Jordan Williams gathered the ball and sent Dominican down the floor. Chris Williams would add his finishing touches to the possession by draining a 3-pointer, Dominican's first basket of the season. Jalen Lovett converted a layup for the Urban Knights, but that celebration was short lived as Dominican would score the next four points courtesy of a pair of Christian Futch free throws and a Chris Williams jumper. 
 
After trading baskets for over five minutes, Romeo Mays would find the points column for the first time in the young season with a layup from in close. The Academy of Art buried its first 3-pointer of the game on its next trip down to the floor, a basket that was soon answered by a Thomas Faustka jumper and a Chase Anderson free throw, bringing the score to 15-13. 
 
The basket trading trend continued for the remainder of the first half with neither team seeing a lead of more than five points. Josh Hill gave the Urban Knights the lead with 36 seconds remaining in the half after he laid the ball in for a pair of points, giving the Academy of Art a 29-27 lead heading into the dressing room.
 
Dominican finished the half with shooting 38.46% from the field on 10-26 shooting while holding the Urban Knights to 35.29% shooting from the field and 12.5% from beyond the arc. 
 
The Academy of Art extended its lead on its first possession of the half on a Joshua Bagley jumper, and that lead would grow to as much as six before Dominican came back and began trading baskets with the Urban Knights once again. Dominican retook the lead it lost at the end of the first half when Futch hit a layup off a fast break, giving the Penguins a 35-34 advantage. The teams traded baskets in the following possessions, but Mays would regain the lead for Dominican with a strong three-point play that came after a foul was called on a successful layup.
 
Strong free throw shooting would seal the deal for Dominican as 13 of its last 15 points came from the stripe, giving Dominican a 77-73 victory in the opening game of the season.
 
Academy of Art Preseason All-PacWest Team member Stefan Milivoejic was held to just 10 points in 35 minutes by the Dominican defense, going 4-12 from the field. 
 
The Penguins went 22-29 from the free throw line as a team, with Futch going a perfect 6 of 6 and Ragsdale converting a game-high eight. Ragsdale (18) was one of four Dominican players to score 10 or more points with Chris Williams (14), Christian Futch (12) and Chase Anderson (11) joining him in the double-digit club. 
 
Dominican finished the game shooting 43.9% from the field thanks to a strong second half performance of 48.39% shooting.