SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Marcus McCutcheon connected on a clutch layup to lift Dominican men's basketball to a 74-73 victory over Chaminade on Wednesday night at the Conlan Recreation Center.

Jaayden Bush led the way with 17 points to go with seven rebounds and a block for the Penguins (6-4, 3-1 PacWest), while McCutchen and Justin Brown each chipped in 13 points. Raazhel Watkins and Ross Reeves led the Silverswords (3-6, 1-4 PacWest) with 18 points apiece while Jalen Brattain added 13 points and seven boards.

While Chaminade outshot Dominican 50.9-41.6% it was the Penguins offensive rebounding that made the difference as they collected 20 rebounds on the offensive end and scored 18 second chance points. 

After the Penguins battled back to tie the game early in the second half, Watkins lifted the Silverswords back into the lead as he connected for five unanswered including a 3-pointer that made it 49-44 with 12:34 showing on the clock and they held the lead for the next six minutes. PJ Volz knocked down a 3-pointer from the right elbow before Siebels cut down the lane and dished it to Justin Brown to tie the game at 58-58 with 6:05 remaining. Volz continued to play well knocking down another three before slashing into the lane for a layup to give put the Penguins back on top 63-61 within the next minute of action.

Brown dished the ball off backdoor to Tyler Williams for the two-handed slam that emphatically ended the 7-0 run and extended the lead to 65-61 with 4:36 remaining. The teams traded buckets for the next two minutes until Bush broke the streak with a 3-pointer from the right wing to push the Penguins ahead 72-67 with 2:13 left on the clock. Isaac Amaral-Artharee answered with a short jumper before finding Jalen Brattain cutting to the hoop for a dunk as the Silverswords cut the lead to 72-71 with one minute remaining. Amaral-Artharee did it once again for Chaminade as he hit a running jumper with 17.1 remaining. 

Dominican called no timeouts as McCutchen took his man one-on-one, split the help defense and finished at the rim with 4 seconds remaining to retake the 74-73 lead. Amaral-Artharee tried one last time for some magic, but this time the ball bounced off the front of the rim and out to send Dominican's bench to the court in celebration.

The game began with at a sprint with both teams shooting above 50% over the first five minutes while trading points. Reeves stole a ball out of the media timeout and sprinted for a fastbreak layup before connecting on a 3-pointer from the right elbow to give the Silverswords some momentum and a 20-13 lead with 13:52 left in the half. 

Jorden Josephs kept Dominican within two possession as he finished through contact twice before a putback dunk by Shafee Mumin put the Penguins within three with 7:32 left on the first half clock. The teams continued to trade buckets and Dominican continued to make an impact on the offensive glass with Justin Brown making a tip-in layup to cut the lead to 30-28 and the teams traded a pair of buckets over the final three minutes with Chaminade leading 32-30.

After Braden Olsen opened the second half with a 3-pointer for the Silverswords, Bush answered him from the right elbow before finishing through contact to tie the game at 35 with 17:55 remaining. Dominican finally retook the lead as McCutchen finished through contact and converted the 3-point play to take the 40-39 lead with 16:52 remaining, but Amaral-Artharee answered with a corner three on the other end. 

Dominican continues its homestand Saturday as it takes on Biola at 3:30 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center.