San Rafael, CALIF. – Dominican University of California (10-11, 6-8) fell 79-70 to visiting University of Hawaii at Hilo (14-4, 9-4) at home on Friday.

Graduate student Justin Brown's muscle was on full display from start to finish during the contest as he played his best basketball of the season, adding his third double-double as a Penguin with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Marcus McCutchen added 15 points and four rebounds while freshman Jaayden Bush tallied with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Freshman PJ Volz and junior Garrett Siebels added 10 points apiece in the Penguins' loss.

Back-to-back McCutchen and Volz baskets put Dominican on the board after falling victim to an early 5-0 Vulcans advantage. Volz added his second basket of the night minutes later after McCutchen dished him the ball under the rim to tie the game at nine apiece before another quick 5-0 Hilo run helped separate the two sides. Sophomore Jake Blazona etched his name into the scoring column with a midrange jumper that stopped the streak before another Hilo mini-run set the score to 18-11 midway through the opening half.

Junior Garrett Siebels buried back-to-back 3-pointers on ensuing possessions to help his team back into the matchup after falling back behind nine. It took the remainder of the half for Dominican to break the pattern of succumbing to a slew of mini-runs with much thanks given to Brown as he took control of the paint. Brown's first field goal came via layup before electing to back down his defender on Dominican's next offensive possessions before finishing the tough play with a hook shot from just a few feet away from the bucket. Brown then sent a pass into the hands of a streaking McCutchen who thanked Brown with a reverse slam that brought Dominican back within four before another Brown layup sliced the lead to a single possession, but one last Hilo bucket set the score to 39-35 at the half.

Brown continued his scoring dominance early in the second half, notching Dominican's first two buckets that were met by eight Vulcans points. Big man Shaffee Mumin got in on the action with his first bucket of the game in similar fashion to his counterpart as he muscled his way to the rim before laying the ball off the glass. Dominican came as close as five midway through the second half after another Brown score made it a 53-48 contest with McCutchen adding a pair of free throws minutes later, but Hilo's defense didn't allow Dominican any closer than this as the visitors eventually left with a 79-70 win.