Dominican men's basketball hosted Azusa Pacific on Saturday afternoon for their PacWest opener. The Penguins did something they haven't done since 2017, beat the Cougars. Their last victory against Azusa Pacific came six years ago by four-points. 

Head coach Justin Argenal said his team better be ready for the conference opener, they were ready alright. The Penguins won 64-57 with their defense showing out throughout the whole game limiting Azusa Pacific to 38% from the field.

The Penguins were making life tough for the Cougars on offense collecting 11 total steals and turning them over 23 times. Going into halftime Dominican held a six-point lead limiting their opponent to 22 points.

On the offensive side of the ball, senior Marcus McCutchen led the way with a game-high 17 points on 8 for 16 from the field. He also collected a team high three steals. Sophomore PJ Volz made his season debut bring more energy to the starting unit and knocked down a critical three-pointer in the second half.

Junior Brendon Johnson led the second unit for the Penguins going for 12 points, but no basket was bigger than Johnson's corner three with less than a minute to go. Dale Currie set up Johnson with a great look by forcing the Cougars defense in and the Montana native made them pay.

Azusa Pacific tried to fight their way back into the game, but the Penguins would hit the shots they needed to make down the stretch. Senior Garrett Siebels knocked down a couple of threes and Currie was orchestrating the offense dishing out seven assists.

Dominican is back at it Tuesday night when they host Chaminade at 7:30 p.m.