SEASIDE, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball overcame a 20-point deficit as it overpowered Cal State Monterey Bay in the second half for a 77-72 victory Sunday afternoon at The Kelp Bed.
Jaayden Bush led five Penguins (3-3) in double-figure scoring with 24 points on 75% shooting from the field to go with two steals, while Garrett Siebels added 14 points and six rebounds. Levi Frankland led the Otters (2-3) with 19 points with Jordan Archie adding 15 points.
Dominican shot 55.8% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc, hitting 69.2% of its shots in the second half to overcome a slow start. The Penguin defense held CSUMB to 36.6% shooting for the game while holding a 43-34 advantage in rebounds.
Trailing by 19 points at the half, Dominican came out aggressive on defense and attacking the paint on offense with Justin Brown hitting a hook shot and Bush driving to the hoop for two more to quickly cut into the lead. PJ Volz then stole the ball and gave it to Siebels who found Marcus McCutchen for the dunk on the fastbreak and Volz followed up by grabbing a defensive board and euro-stepping around a defender for a short layup to cut the lead to 11 three minutes into the half. After a Jailen Nelson fastbreak layup, Siebels knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing and Bush finished through contact to bring the Penguins back within single digits at the first media timeout of the second half. Brown capped the 17-2 run with a layup and a hook shot to make it 49-45 with 14:49 left on the clock.
After a pair of makes extended the CSUMB lead back to eight, Jorden Josephs found Siebels cutting backdoor for an easy layup before absorbing contact and finishing himself on the next trip down the court to make it 53-49 with 11:52 showing on the clock. After a couple of key 3-pointers by Volz and Siebels kept the Otters from getting any type of run going, a flagrant foul on a breakaway gave Bush a free throw and the Penguins retained which Bush converted as he drove the lane and floated one in to cut the lead to 60-58 with 8:54 remaining. Volz tied the game with a pair of free throws with under eight minutes to go and Bush drew a foul on a baseline drive hitting a pair from the charity stripe to give Dominican the 62-60 lead with 6:31 left in the game.
The teams began to trade points for the next four minutes with Dominican holding the slim lead most of the way with Brown making a key hook shot before Bush made a floater from an awkward angle with the shot clock winding down to make it 72-68 with 1:16 left in regulation. The Penguins got the stop and Tyler Williams grabbed a rebound and saved it in to Volz who knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to make it a two-possession lead with 52 seconds remaining. Frankland made a step-back three to cut the lead in half, but Siebels nailed a pair of free throws on the other end to extend the lead back to five with 19 seconds remaining. The teams traded free throws to end the half as Dominican completed its comeback.
The game began in a seesaw fashion as Brown seeing his first minutes of action kept the Penguins close as he worked inside for a hook shot and a layup before Volz followed up his own miss with an offensive rebound and a putback to give Dominican an 8-7 lead at the 15-minute mark. Frankland scored the next four points for the Otters to regain the lead and spark a 21-2 run that gave them the 29-10 lead with 8:42 left on the clock.
Dominican battled back as McCutchen finished through contact to convert on a 3-point play before adding another layup to cap an 11-3 run that closed the gap to 10 with six minutes to go until the half. The trajectory changed once again for the Penguins after McCutchen picked up his third foul and headed to the bench. Joe Wall eventually drove to the hoop for a layup to give CSUMB its largest lead at 44-24 lead with three minutes left on the clock. The teams continued to trade points and an unfortunate lost ball landed in the hands of the Otters who kicked it out to Wall for a 3-pointer right before the buzzer to send them into the locker room leading 47-28.
Dominican will head to Southern California as it begins Pacific West Conference play this weekend beginning Thursday with Concordia University Irvine at 7 p.m. PST at CU Arena.
