ANGWIN, Calif. – Marcus McCutchen exploded for 31 points to lead Dominican men's basketball to a 99-79 victory Tuesday over Pacific Union at Pacific Auditorium.  

McCutchen shot 80% from the field and 83.3% from behind the arc on his way to a new career high as a Penguin. Garrett Siebels added 17 points and six rebounds for Dominican (10-10). Shemarr Parker led the Pioneers with 18 points and seven rebounds. 

The teams traded points early until Jaayden Bush found McCutchen down low for a two-handed slam to spark a 9-3 run that extended the Dominican lead to 22-15 near the midway point of the half. Tyler Williams then finished through contact for an old-fashioned 3-point play before PJ Volz knocked town his first 3-pointer of the night from the right corner and cut into the lane for two more to cap a 10-point run that pushed the lead to 14 with seven minutes remaining in the half.

Austin Moore knocked down an elbow 3-pointer to cap a 6-0 Pioneer run to cut the lead back to eight two minutes later, but it would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the half. McCutchen exploded late knocking down a shot behind the arc before finishing through contact for three more points to lead 13-3 charge that extended the lead to 53-34 on a 3-pointer from Volz with 46 seconds left in the half.

McCutchen remained hot out of the locker room knocking down a 3-pointer before Omari Davis pushed the lead above 20 for the first time with a layup off a steal seconds later. After Dominican pushed its lead to 24, PUC began to chip away with a Ricky Hamilton layup capping a 9-2 run that closed the gap to 69-52 with 12:56 remaining on the clock. The momentum was short lived as Siebels knocked down a pair of short jumpers followed by a corner 3-pointer in the space of one minute to push the lead back to 24 at 76-52. 

Dominican continued to pile it on as a pair of offensive boards led to a layup at the rim for Seibels to extend the lead to 30 with 8:25 remaining. It was all the space they would need as Dominican gave its bench minutes down the stretch to secure the victory.

Dominican will return home to host Hilo at 7:30 p.m. PST Friday at the Conlan Center.