SAN RAFAEL, Calif.- Dominican men's basketball returned home Thursday afternoon after a two-game SoCal road trip where the Penguins knocked off No. 10 PLNU for the first time since 2014. The Penguins played host to the Warriors of Jessup University in a hard fought battle coming up just short, 77-75.

The Warriors would put the pressure on the Penguins early as they jumped out to a quick lead to begin the game. Guard Tom Parsons led the way picking up early buckets. Senior leader Nick Medeiros would halt Jessup's early momentum finding soft spots in their defense and finishing with a couple of lay-ups. The Vallejo native showed off his offensive arsenal in the first half collecting lay-ups and then stepping back connecting on some sweet jumpers.

This match-up was a defensive showcase in the first half with both teams guarding the offenses with great energy and tenacity. Dominican would continue their efforts on the boards bringing down eight more than the Warriors early on.

Jessup would head into the lockers for half holding a nine-point lead. The Penguins would come out for the second half faster than they did in the first, going on a 7-1 run to cut the deficit down to three. Jorge Ochoa, the senior forward out of Los Angeles, started this run knocking one down from downtown off a nice dish from Medeiros. Then Dominican started to emphasize scoring down low with their big man Sargent Jeffery who collected a tough four points in the paint.

Midway through the second half both teams turned up the physicality as they swapped technical fouls. The Pengs would come away with those fouls better off as they sank all their free throws while the Warriors missed a couple of theirs.

Jeffery and fellow big man Stephen Ransom led the Dominican comeback by forcing their way through the Warriors defense and finishing down low on multiple offensive possessions. Dominican would tie the game at 65 with three minutes left. The Warriors would take the lead back thanks to Parsons grabbing couple of buckets of his own.

The Penguins were down by four with one minute to go when Jeffery came up with a huge steal and Michael Wilson capitalized with a clutch three in the corner on the other end. Jessup would then get a lay-up, but Darius Best quickly answered with a smooth looking lay-up of his own with eight seconds left.

Dominican would have the chance to tie or take the lead thanks to a missed free throw by the Warriors with three seconds left. Coming out of the timeout, Wilson received the ball behind the arc and narrowly missed.

The Pengs will be back on the court for a showdown with PLNU Jan. 1^st at 3:30 pm.