IRVINE, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball survived a roller coaster conference opener to defeat Concordia University Irvine 71-62 Thursday night at CU Arena.

Marcus McCutchen led the Penguins (4-3, 1-0 PacWest) with 17 points and nine rebounds, while PJ Volz added 16 points including going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the second half to seal the game. Kobe Sanders pitched in 16 points and four assists to lead the Golden Eagles (1-5, 0-1 PacWest). Dominican shot 53.8% from the field and 35.7% from behind the arc while holding a massive 34-15 rebounding advantage on its way to the victory.

McCutchen got the Penguins off to a strong start as he connected on a short jumper for the first points of the game and then added a transition 3-pointer. Dominican continued to attack the paint as Matthew Hallam had a pair of layups to help push the lead to 13-2 six minutes into the game. The Golden Eagles though began to find their offensive rhythm as Coleman connected on a pair of shots from deep to spark a 10-2 run that cut the Penguin lead to three with 11:22 left in the half.

The teams began to trade buckets until Kobe Sanders tied the game at 19 on a short jumper with 7:48 left on the clock. The Golden Eagle then took their first lead of the game as Bryce Fitzgerald scored six unanswered with a jumper from Jackson Tucker extending the lead to 33-25 with under left in the half. The teams traded a pair of buckets in the final seconds as CUI took the eight-point lead into the locker room.

Volz worked his way inside to score four early points in the first half to bracket a Jaayden Bush 3-pointer as Dominican quickly cut its deficit to one in the first three minutes of the second half. Volz again attacked the hoop for another layup and a pair of free throws to give Dominican back the lead at 38-37.

After the teams traded a pair of 3-pointers, Tyler Williams began to find some success under the hoop cutting down the lane for one layup before Justin Brown flipped a pass over his shoulder to Williams for a dunk to extend the lead to 50-43 with under 10 minutes to play. Garrett Siebels gave Dominican the double-digit lead with a 3-pointer from the right wing, but the Golden Eagles began to rain threes with Freddie Dybala knocking down the third 3-pointer of an 11-0 run that gave them the 58-57 lead with 3:51 remaining.

Dominican was undaunted as McCutchen found Siebels cutting across the baseline for an easy layup before Siebels returned the favor finding McCutchen for an easy two points to retake the 3-point advantage with 2:22 remaining. After McCutchen finished through contact to keep the Penguins ahead, Volz cut down the lane drawing the defense and dishing off to Brown for two more to extend the lead to 65-60 with one minute left in regulation. Dominican continued to knock down their free throws to extend the lead to nine and take a win on the opening leg of its first Southern California road trip.

The Penguins will wrap up its road trip Saturday against Point Loma Nazarene University at 3 p.m. PST at Golden Gymnasium.