AZUSA, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball continued to impress despite injury troubles as it claimed the season sweep over Azusa Pacific with an 86-77 victory Saturday afternoon at Felix Event Center.

The Penguins (7-14, 4-9 PacWest) played only six players but none scored fewer than nine points in the victory. Brendon Johnson led the way with 18 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists, while Nathan Ilunga added 17 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Marcus McCutchen chipped in a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Dale Currie wrapped up the double-digit scorers for Dominican with 16 points. George Reidy led the way for the Cougars (8-13, 7-7 PacWest) with 23 points and five rebounds.

APU got off to a strong start as Reidy hit an opening 3-pointer to spark an 8-2 run in the first four minutes. Dominican was able to close quickly Garrett Siebels capped an 8-3 run with a midrange jumper off an assist from Johnson to trim its deficit to 13-11 at the under 12 minute media timeout. Ilunga knocked down a 3-pointer and converted a 3-point play to keep the game within a single possession before Johnson knocked down a pair of shots behind the arc on back-to-back possessions to give the Penguins their first lead at 23-22 with 7:02 remaining in the half.

The teams traded leads and ties over the next four minutes until Reidy worked his way into the paint for a layup followed by another from Nate Kleppe to give the Cougars a 37-33 lead heading into the final minute of the first. Johnson cut the lead to two at the break with a jumper in the paint. Johnson then started the second half with a steal and Siebels knocked down the transition 3-pointer to take back a 38-37 lead. 

The teams locked into trading points for the next seven minutes until Ken West scored 5-points in a 7-0 run that gave APU the 60-54 lead with 10:36 remaining. Currie buried a shot from behind the arc and then added a layup to spark the Dominican response. McCutchen then knocked down a 3-pointer of his own to swing the lead back to the Penguins, adding a 3-point play as Dominican continued to build onto its lead. Currie found Ilunga in the paint for a layup to end the 15-0 run and give the Penguins the 71-62 lead with seven minutes remaining. 

After Currie found McCutchen down low for a dunk, Carter Plousha knocked down a shot from distance to push the Dominican lead to 12 heading into the final five minutes of action. The lead would hold the rest of the way as the Penguins sealed the game from the charity stripe.

Dominican returns home Thursday to face Fresno Pacific at 7:30 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center.