HAYWARD, Calif. – Dale Currie hit a contested jumper in the lane with 1.8 seconds remaining to lift Dominican men's baksketball to a 74-72 victory Saturday over Cal State Monterey Bay on the final day of the Pioneer Conference Challenge at Pioneer Gymnasium.

Dale Currie and Marcus McCutchen led four Penguins (2-3) in double figures with 15 points each, while Carter Plousha finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Charles Johnston led the Otters (1-3) with 20 points and 17 rebounds. Dominican shot 50% from the field, 46.2% from behind the arc and 88.9% from the free-throw line in an efficient offensive night.

The second half was a seesaw battle that saw nine ties and eight lead changes as neither team could gain much separation. It was the Penguins that built the largest lead of the second half Currie made a jumper in the lane and McCutchen followed up cutting to the hoop for a contested layup to take the 60-58 lead. Plousha then knocked down the 3-pointer to keep the momentum rolling and then finished off the 14-4 run with a dunk after a steal and assist by Garrett Siebels to put Dominican up 70-62 with 3:21 remaining in the game.

The offense went cold for nearly three minutes allowing CSUMB to tie the game on a pair of free throws with 41 seconds remaining. Currie quickly ran the floor and made the driving layup to his left with 30.5 seconds remaining to give the Penguins the last shot. Ameere Britton answered with a layup on the other end with 18 seconds remaining and Dominican called a timeout to set up its last play. There was no doubt who would take the final shot as Currie took it down the floor and never relinquished it spinning his way into the lane and pulling up while absorbing contact to knock down the game winner. A desperation heave by the Otters was off target at the buzzer.

CSUMB got off to a strong start as Javon Johnson and Jaden Tengan knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to take the 14-5 lead with 15:49 remaining in the first half. Joe Wall then knocked down a shot behind the arc to push the lead to 10 with 14 minutes left in the half as the momentum was firmly in the Otters grasp. After a McCutchen layup, Siebels knocked down a 3-pointer of his own to close the gap to 18-14 with 12:30 remaining as Dominican began to claw its way back into the game.

Currie tied the game with a 4-point play knocking down a shot from the right corner through contact and then hitting the free throw and then followed up by finding Siebels and Ilunga for layups. Ilunga finished his layup through contact and then knocked down the free-throw to end the 9-0 run with the Penguins leading 29-24 with 8:12 left in the half.

The Otters fought back to take the 32-29 lead as Wall knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:57 remaining and they held a narrow advantage the rest of the half.

Dominican will return home to take on No. 9 Saint Martin's at 7:30 p.m. PST Tuesday at the Conlan Center.