Box Score San Rafael, CALIF. -- Dominican University of California (8-10, 5-7) dropped a nail biter in the Conlan Center as a propelled second half forced Point Loma University (17-3, 12-0) onto its heals before walking out with a slim 72-69 victory, the most slim margin of victory on the season for Point Loma. 

Freshman PJ Volz and junior Marcus McCutchen both earned a team-high 16 points while adding two rebounds apiece. Junior Garrett Siebels added 15 points while freshman Jaayden Bush netted 11 points five rebounds, two assists and two steals. 

Point Loma jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead behind a slew of jumpers and a deep ball all within the first five minutes of the game. Bush ended the streak with a driving layup that was dished by junior Tyler Williams with Point Loma providing an answer soon after. A pair of Williams free throws preceded a Siebels 3-pointer to bring Dominican back within four before McCutchen answered a single Sea Lions charity shot with a layup that brought the Penguins within a basket. A quick 6-0 run gave the Sea Lions back their nine point advantage with senior Justin Brown snapping the streak via layup with 6:19 left in the half. Another Point Loma run, this time a 7-0 streak, set the difference to 14 before McCutchen buried a long ball to again snap the skid. Dominican would come as close as six after another Siebels bucket, but one more Point Loma basket set the score to 34-26 at half time. 

The second half became a story of attrition as Dominican's defense wore down the Sea Lions conference-best offense, allowing just 23 second half points. Back-to-back Bush buckets, including one from deep, brought the Penguins back within a single possession in the early stages of the half. Point Loma found itself back up nine just minutes later with much thanks being given to Preseason PacWest Player of the Year Kaden Anderson as he added to what would be a game-high 28 points. A Williams layup just over halfway through the second half set the tone down the stretch as it brought Dominican within seven while also grasping momentum for the home side. Siebels hit a free throw that was given after the Point Loma coaching staff was assessed a technical foul, followed by a Volz triple that brought the deficit to just three. Point Loma found itself up five a few possessions later with the teams trading buckets before consecutive McCutchen baskets made it a single point contest. Williams gave Dominican its first lead of the evening with 4:54 remaining before the two teams traded the lead over the ensuing two minutes. 

A Volz bucket preceded successful McCutchen free throws with Dominican finding itself up three with just shy of three minutes remaining, but points on consecutive trips down the floor gave Point Loma the advantage back. Siebels received a Brown pass under the rim immediately after, then nailing a turn around hook shot with just shy of two minutes remaining to retake the lead. Brown then showed up huge on the defensive end with a block from behind the arc but the deflection was corralled by the visitors before earning back the lead with 1:21 remaining. McCutchen continued to take matters into this own hands, this time backing down his defender under the rim before getting up way above the rim and rolling the ball in with 56 ticks left on the clock, but a pair of successful free throws are what ended up being the difference as Dominican eventually fell by a score of 72-69 to the conference undefeated Sea Lions. 

Dominican now looks ahead to Saturday as it welcomes conference opponent Concordia University at Irvine into the Conlan Center.