SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball was unable to hold on to late leads in regulation and the first overtime as it fell 75-71 to Cal State East Bay on Wednesday afternoon at the Conlan Recreation Center.
Marcus McCutchen led the Penguins (2-3) with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Garrett Siebles added a double-double of his own with 11 points and 10 boards. Grady Lewis led the Pioneers (2-4) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Dominican held CSUEB to 39.4% shooting from the field but poor shooting in the first half left it at 33.3% from the field.
Lewis got the Pioneers off to a strong start in the game as he cut down the baseline for a pair of dunks early to help build an 11-6 lead with 13:31 on the clock. Dimitrios Klonaras helped East Bay extend its lead to double digits with a pair of jumpers in the paint to make it 20-10 with under five minutes remaining in the half. PJ Volz broke a seven minute cold spell for the Penguins with a short jumper and Siebels knocked down a 3-pointer to end the half with the Penguins trailing 28-17.
Dominican overcame its slow start and began to find an offensive rhythm in the second half as they attacked the inside of the paint. Jaayden Bush cut to the hoop and finished through contact to convert a 3-point play to highlight a 7-0 Penguin run that cut their deficit to eight five minutes into the half. Bush continued to attack the paint earning two more trips to the line and scoring four points 6-point run that put trim the Pioneer lead to 36-32 with 12:37 left in regulations.
After East Bay slowly rebuilt an eight-point advantage, Dominican quickly responded with a 9-2 run with Siebels capping the sequence knocking down a 3-pointer from the wing off the inbound pass to make it 46-45 Pioneers with five minutes remaining on the clock. Once again CSUEB rebuilt a small advantage but McCutchen hit a 3-pointer with to tie the game and Matthew Hallam grabbed an offensive board and putback to give Dominican its first lead since the beginning of the game at 54-52 with 58 seconds remaining.
Hallam had a block and rebound on the other end of the court to get the ball back for the Penguins but a turnover led to a layup for Kevin Ebiriekwe with 27 seconds and he added a free throw to give the Pioneers back the lead. Tim Andreolli made 1-of-2 free throws with 11 seconds remaining and McCutchen took the inbound the length of the court had his first attempt blocked before regaining possession and hitting a layup with two seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime.
McCutchen knocked down a long three early in the first overtime and Volz pulled up for a 15-foot jumper to give Dominican a 63-59 lead with 2:37 remaining. After Garrett Pascoe knocked down a corner 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one a pair of free throws extended the Dominican lead back to three with 22 seconds remaining. Lewis cut under the hoop and finished through contact for a 3-point play with nine seconds left in the overtime to tie the game once again and Volz missed a three from the left corner as the game went to a second overtime. Dominican slowed down in the second period of extra time as Lewis continually attacked the hoop to build a seven-point advantage and Dominican was unable to convert on its opportunities as it fell 75-71.
The Penguins will return to the court Sunday as they travel south to face Cal State Monterey Bay at 3 p.m. PST at the Kelp Bed.
