San Rafael, CALIF. – Dominican University of California (1-0) rang in the new season in winning fashion as a momentum-filled second half gave it an 82-76 victory over Sonoma State (0-1).
Sonoma State recorded the game's first basket when Dillon Lyawe earned an and-1 but missed the proceeding foul shot. The visitors earned the ensuing four points before freshman PJ Volz tallied Dominican's first points of the season off a midrange jumper near the left side of the baseline. Five more points were added to the Seawolves side of the scoreboard, preceding junior Garrett Siebels draining his first basket as a Penguin from long range to set the score at 14-5 before Volz drained a long ball of his own that brought Dominican within six at the first media timeout.
Dominican jumped out to a 5-0 streak out of the break, a stretch that was capped off by a Siebels 3-pointer that brought the Penguins within one. The hoop from beyond the mark was part of a two-minute stretch that saw Siebels net eight consecutive Penguin points before senior Matt Hallam muscled in a basket from the paint that set the score to 20-17. Marcus McCutchen joined the inaugural points party with his first basket as a Penguin as he laid the ball in the hoop to put Dominican up five at the halfway point of the opening half.
Neither team was able to gather more than a five-point lead throughout the rest of the first half, but a massive momentum shift occurred when freshman Jaayden Bush stole the ball via block on the defensive end on what seemed like a sure lay-in before sending the ball down the court to an open Tyler Williams who slammed the ball home to give Dominican a 35-30 lead. Sonoma State added a pair of free throws before the buzzer preceding Dominican taking a three-point lead into the locker room.
Sonoma State drained a 3-pointer on its second trip down the floor to start the half before Williams crossed his defender to add another bucket under his name. Volz brought the house down with a two-handed slam on Dominican's next trip down the floor to put his team up four as the score read 39-35. McCutchen muscled his way to the rim to keep momentum in his team's favor before the Seawolves added a slam of their own. Siebels earned an and-1 and the two teams exchanged blows before the first media timeout of the half with the score reading 43-40 in favor of the home side.
A 9-0 Seawolves run forced Dominican to call a timeout with 12:03 remaining, a move that proved effective as sophomore Jake Blazona welcomed the teams back to the floor with a basket. McCutchen tallied a sky-high block near the backboard to keep Dominican within six after another Sonoma State basket before sophomore Jorden Josephs earned a bucket on the opposing side. McCutchen then recorded a steal before his two-handed slam brought the game back even at 55 aside. The streaking junior then corralled his own rebound after a visitor's basket, tipping home another bucket to again tie the game moments later.
As expected, the McCutchen show rolled on in the form of a deep ball that gave his team the lead, then recording a steal and a foul shot to give him eight straight Penguin points. Bush tallied an off-balance left hander to put Dominican up four after the Penguin defense forced a tough shot with time expiring on the Seawolves offense as the score read 63-59.
Sonoma State received a well-earned traveling call after recording a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game before both Blazona and Siebels drained long balls to put the home side up seven. Sonoma State added a midrange jumper before the final media timeout as the teams headed to their respective benches with the score reading 69-64.
McCutchen welcomed the teams back to the floor with a pair of successful free throws before the Dominican defense earned another stop, this time in the form of forcing a very errant pass that saw an unsuspecting wall as its recipient. Bush stormed down the floor moments to earn himself a steal before Josephs laid in a tightly contested bucked to put Dominican up nine. The visitors earned a bucket before electing to call a timeout, but the Dominican offense kept storming as McCutchen brought back the nine-point advantage.
A Sonoma State 3-pointer brought the game within six with 61 seconds remaining as the visitors then earned a steal and a bucket to set the score at 75-71. Volz hit a pair of incredibly timely free throws to again put his team up six as the teams traded baskets with the visitors bringing their four-point deficit back moments later. Dominican again hit both its free throws as Sonoma State was in a state of constant fouling down the stretch, eventually seeing the game end 80-76 in Dominican's favor.
Siebels lead the way in the score column earning 21 points in addition to seven rebounds, four steals and a trio of assists on 50% shooting, while McCutchen's impressive line read 19 points, four rebounds and three steals on 58.3% shooting. Volz rounded out the top-3 scorers with 16 points as his successful free throws brought his team to victory in its home opener.
