San Rafael, Calif – A strong first half wasn't enough the Stanislaus State Warriors propelled themselves to a 61-43 victory over the Dominican University of California Penguins.

Graduate student Anthony Dennis made his Dominican debut with a mid-range jumper to welcome the fans back to the Conlan Center for Dominican basketball. A pair of traveling calls were traded before Stanislaus recorded its first shot of the game, missing from deep.

Freshman Jordan Josephs found a streaking Anthony Dennis alone under the rim to take a 4-0 lead off an easy layup. The Dominican defense held the Warriors off the scoreboard early on, with Stanislaus being charged for multiple turnovers off travelling calls and shot clock violations. Sophomore Adam Parker met his man at the rim before Dominican brought the ball back down court, ultimately turning the ball back over in the opening minutes of the game.

Stanislaus scored its first points off an easy finger roll from under the rim, bringing the score to 4-2 just 5:30 into the first half. The Warriors drained a deep ball minutes later to take a one-point lead, but Dominican answered the bell with a 3-pointer courtesy of freshman Terique Brown to regain the lead. The trading of threes continues with Will Pallesi seeing his first action on the scoreboard for Stanislaus.

Graduate Student Michael Diaz charged through lane and tipped the ball into the basket coming out of the media timeout before Dennis found his own rebound and recorded a put-back layup for a pair of points. The official allowed a controversial basket as the shot clock looked to have expired prior to the shot leaving the hands of the Warriors shooter, but the hoop was counted as it brought the score to 11-10 Dominican.

Tony Singleton drained an open-corner three after some shifty Stanislaus passing to give his team a 13-12 lead, but graduate student Zamaria Odom provided an immediate answer with a long-ball of his own. Luis Salgado notched a layup out of the media timeout to knot the game at 15-15 before a lunging block by Justin Brown denied Benno Zecic at the rim to keep the score even.

Justin Brown blocked another ball just shy of the 15-minute mark of the first frame, but Dominican failed to convert on the opposite end after it was called for an offensive foul. Terique Brown drained another 3-pointer moments later with 3:15 remaining in the half to expand Dominican's lead to three, a bucket that was soon answered by a Zecic layup to set the score at 20-19.

Josephs brought the crowd to its fleet with a steal before a thunderous slam sent the Conlan Center into a frenzy to give Dominican another three-point lead with 2:14 to go in the first half. Foul shots gave the Warriors a 23-22 advantage while late turnover trouble kept that score line going into the half.


An 8-0 Warriors run broke the game open early for the Warriors as they enjoyed a 31-22 advantage early in the half. Dennis halted the run with a layup for Dominican to bring the Penguins back within seven, but more Stanislaus mini-runs gave it a 36-24 lead with 16:49 remaining.

Adam Parker flexed his muscle with a strong layup between a pair of towering defenders before completing the three-point play to bring Dominican back within 10 with 12:41 remaining. The Warriors answered on a quick inbound play on their next trip down the floor to regain their dozen advantage as Dominican struggled to corral the rebounds on the defensive end of the floor.

Odom converted on a reverse layup after another Warriors run to bring the score to 48-33, but a quick answer by Stanislaus brought the deficit back to 17. More defensive rebound woes contributed to the deficit as it got increasingly larger, with Dominican trailing 54-33 with 7:29 to go in the game.

Stanislaus coasted into the final minutes of the game as Dominican struggled to put together consecutive successful trips down the court, with the score reading 57-35 with 4:04 remaining. Anderson converted on a pair of free throws to bring Dominican back within 20, before a steal from sophomore Troy Murphy Jr. was dished off to redshirt Junior Chase Anderson who put his defender in a spin cycle before laying the ball in for two.

Diaz brought the Penguins within 17 with nearly three minutes to go before Anderson head faked a pair of defenders before sending a short jumper through the twine, bringing the score to 58-43. Palesi drained a final long-ball for the Warriors with under a minute late, marking the final basket of the game as Stanisalus left the Conlan Center with a 61-43 win.

Dennis finished the matchup with eight points and four rebounds, with Terique Brown owning a stat line of seven points and three rebounds as Anderson posted the same numbers.

Dominican now looks ahead to its Nov. 27 matchup in Humboldt at 4 p.m. PST.

To listen to the live call from Penguin Radio, head to the following link: http://penguinradio.dominican.edu/2022hoops/211120_mbb_VS_stan.mp3