Dominican University of California (8-7, 5-4) dropped its first game of the week-long Hawaiian Islands road trip by a score of to The University of Hawaii at Hilo (10-2, 6-1). 

Junior transfer Marcus McCutchen led Dominican with 17 points, three rebounds and an assist while shooting an impressive 62% from the field while snagging three rebounds an adding an assist. Freshman Omari Davis did his best to turn the tide for Dominican following his substitutions in both halves as he earned points 10 points on 80% shooting with a pair of points coming after sprinting back door and corralling a loose ball on the offensive end to keep the play alive before burying a basket. Davis buried a pair of three pointers in his seven minutes on the court, good enough for 33% of Dominican's total points from deep while also tallying Dominican's final basket of the game. The freshman's speed was often on full display after snagging a tipped ball on his defensive side of the court before dishing out an assist on a McCutchen bucket in the first half. 

Freshman PJ Volz joined McCutchen as the pair of Penguins each earned double-digit points as Volz added 12 more to an already impressive freshman campaign. Sophomore Jake Blazona led the team from a play making standpoint four assists and three rebounds in 22 minutes of playing time. 

Dominican fell victim to a 22-point, 48-26 half time deficit that proved to be too large to overcome despite its best second half efforts. A 6-0 run to start the half set the tone in the early stages before graduate student Justin Brown and Volz connected for Dominican's first consecutive baskets of the half minutes before Davis and McCutchen sent Dominican off on a 6-0 run to set the score to 59-41. The Penguins came within a 14-point striking distance after a pair of successful Jaayden Bush free throws, but another late push eventually gave the Vulcans an 81-67 win.

Dominican now looks ahead to Wednesday when it jumps islands to Oahu for a pair of road clashes against Hawaii Pacific University and Chaminade University.