SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball pulled away with a dominant second-half performance to defeat Cal State East Bay 68-52 Sunday afternoon at the Conlan Center.
Nathan Ilunga led the Penguins (2-1) with 17 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Jaayden Bush was close behind with 13 points, seven steals and six rebounds, while
Darius Best finished with 15 points and four boards. Teiano Hardee led the Pioneers (1-2) with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Dominican shot 42.6% from the field and 36.4% from behind the arc, while holding CSUEB to 33.9% shooting and 16.7% from 3-point range. The Penguins defense was particularly stingy in the second half holding the Pioneers to 20% shooting with no 3-pointers allowed.
The teams were locked in a tight battled from the beginning of the game as midway through the quarter Ilunga knocked down a 3-pointer to give Dominican a lead, but Andrew Camancho answered immediately on the other end for CSUEB to give the Pioneers a 15-13 advantage. Camancho's 3-pointer served as a launching point as Teiano Hardee capped the 10-0 run with a monster jam to make it 22-13.
DM Sanders helped slow the momentum as
Jordan Archie handed him the ball as he rounded a screen and he knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Best then drove into the lane for two more to close back within four with 7:48 left in the half. The teams traded buckets for the next four minutes until a 4-point burst gave CSUEB an eight-point lead heading into the final minute of the half. Bush handed Dominican some momentum as he drove down the lane and beat the buzzer on a layup to cut the deficit to 34-28 at the break.
Ilunga continued the run in the second half as he laid it off glass for the first points of the period, while a Bush steal led to a
Jorge Ochoa layup to cut back within two. Ilunga tied the game on a layup with 15 minutes left and
Jordan Archie knocked down a 3-pointer from the right-elbow to give Dominican a 39-37 lead with 13:32 on the clock. The possession was extended as a foul was called on the Pioneers after the shot went up and Ochoa drew a foul and knocked down both shots from the charity stripe to extend the lead. Ochoa finished the 17-3 run with a layup off a good feed from Bush to make it 43-37 with 12:19 remaining.
After East Bay closed back within three,
Thomas Oosterbroek collected his own miss and finished through contact completing the old-fashioned 3-point play from the free-throw line to extend the lead back to two possessions. Dominican continued to keep the Pioneers at arms length as Ilunga flew in for a putback dunk in transition to make it 52-44 with 8:17 left on the clock and force a timeout.
Dominican took its first double-digit lead of the game as Ilunga posted up and spun off his left shoulder finishing with a right hook shot to make it 60-49 with 4:25 remaining. Best pulled up with the shot clock winding down and buried the jumper the next time down the floor as the Penguins continued to pull away building a 67-49 lead before the next East Bay points.
Dominican will return to the court Tuesday to take on Pacific Union at 6 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center.
