San Rafael, Calif. – Dominican University of California men's basketball took down the University of Hawaii at Hilo by a lopsided score of 79-63 in the Conlan Center on Sunday.

"It was a good team performance today," associate head coach Matt Okada said. "I thought we had them beat earlier in the season on the road, so it's good to come back and actually get the win. We had two complete halves, we defended for 40 minutes, rebounding was even in the first half, but we outrebounded them by double in the second half, we made shots, we took care of the ball and we neutralized their two tops players."

Graduate student Anthony Dennis sank a pair of free throws following a Hilo bucket to start the game, followed by four straight Vulcan points. Freshman Jake Blazona hit the game's first 3-pointer to bring his team back within one, but Hilo did the same moments later.

Dominican drained four straight 3-pointers midway through the first half as sophomore's Adam Parker and Troy Murphy Jr., along with freshman Terique Brown, were lights out from deep, with the Brown triple putting the Penguins up seven, a lead it would not squander for the remainder of the game. Graduate student Zamaria Odom joined the 3-point party with just under four minutes remaining at the Penguins continued to roll, but it would be Hilo that notched the final three when Kameron Ng connected from deep as time expired. Despite the late triple, Dominican held a 38-32 lead going into the locker rooms.

Layups were traded by the Hilo's Max Kunnert and Dominican sophomore Connor McClean to start the half, with junior Chase Anderson and graduate student Anthony Dennis each notching baskets soon after before the teams broke for a media timeout.

Hilo tallied the first bucket coming out of the timeout, but Odom made sure that the celebration was short lived by draining a 3-pointer just moments later, then draining a pair of free throws after another Vulcans score. Hilo later answered with a long ball of its own to pull within three, but Anderson dropped his defender with a crossover that left him with a wide-open finger roll to set the score at 51-46 at the media timeout.
Parker drained a pair of foul shots when the teams retook the floor to put his squad up seven, preceding an Odom lay-in that came after he spun around his defender. Parker kept the offense rolling with a 3-pointer with the help of a fortunate bounce off the rim, with Odom helping extend the lead with a layup that gave Dominican a 14-point lead while forcing Hilo to call timeout.

"It's been a struggle for us all year, we seem to always come out in the second half slow, lots of turnovers and slow defensive rotations," Parker said. "It was good today; it was two good halves put together. It shows our growth as a team and our mental toughness.

Parker showed up defensively coming out of the timeout, solely stopping a fast break when he defended the rim without taking a foul, sending the ball the other way as Odom finished the play with a midrange jumper. Blazona put his name back onto the scoresheet when he converted on a close range shot after receiving a Chase Anderson pass, then knocking down a 3-pointer with a smile on the next trip down the floor.

"When we make those type of plays, it really kills the other team," Blazona said. "I can't take credit for those plays, I credit my teammates because at the end of the day, they're the ones always making those plays."

Anderson was the recipient of a Blazona pass that gave him an easy layup coming out of a media break, preceding a Dennis bucket that came after he gathered his own rebound off the offensive glass. Anderson then pulled up and hit a jumper on the next trip down the floor, giving the Penguins a 21-point lead with 4:40 remaining in the game.

Dennis hit a jumper following the final media timeout to set the score to 75-52, but the basket was soon answered by a successful Hilo and-1. Dennis provided another answer to give him 15 points and counting, but Hilo answered with a trio of points to pull them within 19 before calling a timeout.

The Dennis show continued out of the timeout, this time with a midrange jumper, but Hilo immediately answered with a driving layup. Payton Grant hit a 3-pointer on the Vulcan's next trip down the floor before Blazona and Odom combined for a clutch steal to give Dominican possession with 42 seconds remaining. Neither team attempted to add any more points to their point totals as time was winding down, eventually resulting in a lopsided 79-63 Dominican victory. 

Odom finished with a game high 21 points while adding seven rebounds and a pair of steals, while both Dennis and Parked tallied 17 points. Blazona led all teams with eight assists as Dennis joined Odom with a team high seven rebounds.