CHICO, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball fell 77-61 Friday afternoon to Chico State after a poor first half at Art Acker Gym.

Nathan Ilunga led the way for the Penguins (3-2) with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Jaayden Bush added 11 points and two steals. Miles Davis led the Wildcats (3-2) with 14 points and six rebounds with Isaiah Kerr chipping in 14 points and four rebounds. Dominican struggled in the first half committing 11 turnovers allowing Chico State to hold a 26-9 advantage in points off of turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. 

Some early foul trouble forced the Penguins to look to their bench five minutes into the game and the Wildcats took advantage reeling off 11-points unanswered to take a 14-4 lead. Dominican tried to stick within striking distance and a 3-pointer by Jorge Ochoa closed the gap to single-digits at 22-13. The Penguins then crashed the glass with DM Sanders cashing in on the extra opportunities to close within seven. Dominican continued to attack the paint it was able to draw several trips to the line to cut the deficit to 24-20 with eight minutes left in the half.

As a third player got into foul trouble, Chico State took advantage once again with another 11-0 run capped by Jojo Murphy swiped a ball on the defensive end and took it the other way for a fastbreak layup to push the lead to 16 at the under four minute media timeout. The Wildcats continued to extend the lead and Miles Daniels connected from behind the arc to send them into halftime leading 49-26.

Isaiah Kerr connected on a 3-pointer with 11:24 remaining in the game to push the lead to a high of 33 points. The Penguins finally found a rhythm as Bush scored seven points in an 11-0 run that cut the Wildcat lead to 68-46 with 6:50 remaining. The lead was too large to surmount as the Penguins were able to draw as close to 16 but no closer despite outscoring Chico State 35-28 in the half.

Dominican will return to the friendly confines of the Conlan Recreation Center to begin a five-game homestand Monday against Cal Maritime at 6 p.m. PDT.