SAN FRANCISCO — Dominican men's basketball began a new era of Penguin basketball with a 70-56 win over the Sonoma State Seawolves in game one of the PacWest/CCAA Challenge. 

With a brand-new coaching staff taking the helm for Dominican — head coach Justin Argenal, associate head coach Matt Okada and assistant coach Dee Wallace — the Penguins earned their first win of the season with a phenomenal second half outscoring the Seawolves 43-25. Sophomore Adam Parker lead the way for Dominican with 18 points, while graduate student Anthony Dennis added 13 points and two assists, joined by a double-double from freshman Jorden Josephs of 12 points and 10 rebounds in his first collegiate game. 

Dominican welcomed in the new coaching staff with back-to-back baskets on its first two trips down the floor, courtesy of Dennis and graduate student Justin Brown, earning a quick 4-0 lead. Sonoma State followed up with 10-2 run to eventually bring the score to 12-8, but a layup from graduate student Michael Diaz halted the streak. 

Dominican retook the lead at 9:08 of the first half off a Josephs driving layup that gave the Penguins a 21-20 advantage preceding another driving layup, this time by freshman Terique Brown, increasing the Dominican lead to three. 

It would be nearly two and a half minutes before either team found the basket again, with Sonoma State pulling back within one at 23-22. By the end of the half, the Seawolves gave themselves a cushion in the form of a 31-27 lead after a Michael Smith 3-pointer gave them the four-point advantage. 

A second-half surge propelled the Penguins to a double-digit victory after being down by as many as nine points in the final frame. With 18:38 left in the second half, Dominican started to hack away at the Seawolves lead, with a Dennis and-1 kickstarting the comeback. The initial 7-0 Penguin run was capped off with a Jake Blazona jumper in the paint before the Seawolves were finally able to find the scoreboard. 

Parker drained a corner three to tie the game at 41-41 with 14:40 remaining before a Blazona layup gave Dominican its first lead since the 15-minute mark of the first half. Dominican proved that when it rains it pours, with the fact solidified by 10-0 run capped-off with a Parker jumper in the paint that helped Dominican earn a 59-45 advantage. Dominican matched any pressure that was brought by Sonoma State throughout the final six minutes of the matinee, eventually earning a 70-56 victory. 

Dominican will enjoy a quick turnaround before taking on host San Francisco State tomorrow at 4 p.m. in its final game of the PacWest/CCAA challenge at The Swamp.