SAN RAFAEL, Calif.- Dominican men's basketball opened their three-game home stand with a Thursday showdown against the Sharks of Hawaii Pacific University. From the first tip to the final buzzer this game was back-and-forth with 20 lead changes and 11 ties. Hawaii Pacific were the ones who capitalized down the stretch which resulted in an 85-79 victory for the Sharks.

The Penguins offense came ready to play against HPU Thursday night with four players scoring in double figures. Junior Jorge Ochoa led Dominican in the scoring department going for 19 points while draining three long balls. Fellow junior Darius Best was right behind him with 16 points while being active on the defensive side swiping three steals.

Dominican matched their energy from offense to the defensive side of the ball coming up with 13 total steals. Best, Jordan Archie, and Omari Davis all collected three a piece.
Midway through the second half the Pengs tried to gain distance from the Sharks by beating them down low. Sargent Jeffery and Archie had consecutive offensive series where they attacked the paint and ended up with buckets. The Sharks would counter with a run of their own led by Charlie Weber.

In the closing moments of the second half, Dominican would turn to Best who has been their best finisher all season. He showed his versality with a nice driving lay-up and then a couple possessions later he hit a smooth looking turnaround jumper that put the Pengs up by four with 40 seconds left. However, the drama was just beginning.

The Sharks would hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left to force the game into the first overtime. Best didn't cool off has he scored the next four points for Dominican to start overtime, then with 50 seconds left Ochoa went to the charity stripe and hit two clutch free throws to tie the game. HPU would hold a two-point lead with 20 seconds left, but DM Sanders had ice in his veins when he pulled up from 15 feet and hit nothing but net to send the game to a second overtime. Sanders finished the night with 12 points with a couple of treys.

Every player gave it their all on the court tonight and in the second overtime fatigue was starting to settle in. The Sharks would score the first six points and not look back as they would secure their victory.

Next up for the Pengs is a home match-up with Art U Feb.17^th at 7:30 p.m.