HAYWARD, Calif. – Freshman forward Jorden Josephs continued the torrid start to his collegiate career with his third consecutive double-double, but Dominican men's basketball fell 68-54 Wednesday night against Cal State East Bay at Pioneer Gymnasium.

Josephs led the Penguins (1-2) in scoring and rebounding with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while graduate transfer Anthony Dennis added 12 points and five rebounds. Kaito Williams led the Pioneers (1-2) with 11 points and three assists and teammate Tim Andreolli added 10 points to go with three steals. The CSUEB bench proved a main factor in the game as they outscored the Dominican backups 33-16, while the Pioneers also connected on 40% of their shots behind the arc.

Some sharpshooting lifted CSUEB out of the gate as Williams knocked down two shots with a third 3-pointer coming from Zack Perlstein to take the 9-0 lead five minutes into the game. Freshman point guard Terique Brown put an end to the Penguin scoring drought as he blocked a shot on the defensive end then knocked down a 3-pointer in transition, but Andreolli hit a pair of shots behind the arc as the Pioneers increased their lead to 14 with 11 minutes left in the half. 

Josephs sparked a Dominican run as he threw down a powerful dunk before rejecting Zafir Williams on the other end with Brown once again knocking down the transition three. Josephs then added a fastbreak layup to the 11-0 run before graduate transfer Zamaria Odom hit a pair of shots from the free-throw line to close the gap to 22-18 with four minutes left on the first-half clock. CSUEB regrouped as Josh Dhatt had a layup and a 3-pointer to help the Pioneers end the half on a 9-0 run to take the 35-20 lead into the break.

After trading points for the first six minutes of the second half, Josephs found a cutting Dennis for a layup and Brown stole the ball on the ensuing CSUEB possession before taking it to the other end for a layup to start a 7-0 run that cut the deficit to eight with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Once again the sharp shooting from the Pioneers halted the Penguin momentum as Justin Vigil and Dhatt knocked down a pair from distance to push the lead back to double digits at 52-38. Dominican was unable to get the lead back to single digits the rest of the way as CSUEB held on for the victory down the stretch.

The Penguins will return home to the Conlan Center for its home opener Saturday against Stanislaus State at 5:30 p.m. PST.