San Rafael, CALIF. – Dominican University of California men's basketball (0-2) fell to San Francisco State University (0-2) by a score of 66-56 on Sunday.

Junior Marcus McCutchen and freshman PJ Volz combined for Dominican's first six points with the former hitting a field goal and foul shot with the latter draining a shot from beyond the arc. SF State matched basket for basket, eventually taking a single-point lead into the first media timeout with the score reading 7-6.

The McCutchen-Volz trade partnership continued as they corralled the ensuing six Dominican points as well, giving Dominican a 12-9 advantage. Sophomore Jake Blazona contributed his efforts with a short jumper from to the right of the paint after receiving a Garrett Siebels pass preceding Gators foul shots that knotted the game at 14 apiece.

An opposing 3-pointer put the away side up by a trio of points near the halfway mark of the opening frame, a basket eventually answered by another McCutchen bucket before freshman Jaayden Bush buried a 3-pointer to tie the game. The Bush long ball kickstarted a party from downtown as the ensuing six SF State points all came from beyond the arc, setting the score to 27-19 with 4:50 remaining.

Siebels joined the festivities with a corner-3 of his own that was matched by another Gators shot from distance, putting the visitors up nine at the media timeout. An offensive foul against SF State put the ball back into Dominican's hands down 30-21 with 3:30 remaining in the half, but a defensive stop that forced an out-of-bounds call changed possession back into the visitors' favor. Cold shooting plagued Dominican down the stretch as the Penguins searched for answers down 13. A Tyler Williams block on the defensive end transitioned into a Blazona floater to put Dominican back on the board with the home team forcing a turnover on the next SF State trip down the floor before the half eventually came with Dominican down 34-23.

SF State jumped out to a 16 points advantage to start the half behind a plethora of layups and free throws. Volz gave Dominican a bit of life with a stop-and-shoot move from the top of the arc that was good for three points, but more Gators point meant a larger deficit for the home side. A Siebels three from the left side of the arc made it a 52-35 game with 12:48 remaining, leading to a SF State timeout. An immediate Gators 3-pointer gave them a 20-point lead, but Siebels kept battling with a distanced ball of his own.
McCutchen earned a put-back slam to bring his team within 15 before a Blazona steal at half court lead to an eventual Siebels charity shot as SF State received punishment for talking instead of playing basketball after an otherwise nice defensive stop. Bush tallied a steal on the defensive end following a Volz block, later leading to a Bush finger roll to put his team within 12. SF State answered with another long ball, preceding another Bush basket.

Bush earned a rare 4-point play when he was fouled from beyond the arc, later earning the fourth point from the line as the Dominican deficit was back to single digits. The Bush show continued with a 3-pointer on his team's next possession after SF State earned two preceding a Dominican defensive stop with the score reading 60-52. The Bush bucket marked 11 straight points for the freshman as his efforts nearly single-handily brought Dominican within striking distance.

McCutchen and Siebels paired up for a double-team that forced a steal on the defensive end prior to Bush being sent to the line for a pair of successful foul shots that set the score to 60-54 with 4:35 remaining. Williams earned a put-back bucket two minutes later after he snagged a rebound of a missed foul shot that brought his team all the way back within four before SF State earned a pair of successful foul shots. The foul shots marked the beginning of the end for the whole team despite battling back to make it a competitive afternoon with the final score reading

Bush's incredible second half saw him finish with 16 points and three rebounds, while McCutchen added 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.