SAN RAFAEL, CALIF.- Dominican men's basketball opened their 2025-26 campaign by hosting the Gators of San Francisco State University Friday night in the West Region Tipoff Challenge. Jorge Ochoa paced the Penguins in this one as he dropped a game high 17 points while draining three from long range. The offense was clicking the whole night for the black and gold as four players were in double figures.

Senior Nick Medeiros collected the Pengs first bucket of the new season when he received a nice dish from teammate Jorge Ochoa. Medeiros, the transfer from Sonoma State will be a huge addition for Dominican this season as he will orchestrate the offense from the point guard position.
San Francisco State would get their offense going when Evan McKnight broke lose for a breakaway dunk, but Ochoa halted any momentum the Gators were gaining when he calmly stepped into a trey for his first bucket of the season. Redshirt junior Sargent Jeffery subbed in midway through the first half and made his mark down low as he collected five fast points which forced the Gators to call a timeout.

Fellow transfer Michael Wilson introduced himself to the home crowd late in the first half with his defense forcing a couple turnovers and then converting a fast break with a nice layup. The Pengs defensive effort was in full display in the first half as they forced seven turnovers with senior Stephen Ransom protecting the rim swatting away two blocks while Darius Best swiped a game high three steals.

Dominican would take a 13-point advantage when heading to the lockers for halftime. The Penguins bench led the charge as they went for 16 points led by Jeffery who led the team with 13 while going 5 for 5 from the charity stripe.
In the second half the Pengs would keep the defensive intensity as they jumped out to a big lead and never look back. Senior defensive specialist Omari Davis sparked a couple of Dominican runs as his teammates rewarded his lockdown defense by finding him on a breakaway multiple times for dunks.

Midway through the second half Dominican would find themselves with easy buckets as great ball movement led to some wide-open treys. Ochoa and fellow senior Best were the benefactors on a couple of those longballs along with Austin Johnson. Dominican's defense and long-range shooting propelled them to a victory in the season opener as they drained 17 threes compared to five for the Gators.

The Penguins will be back on the court tomorrow as they host Cal Poly Humboldt as 7:15 pm.