SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican men's basketball could not overcome the hot shooting of Westmont in an 89-81 loss Saturday afternoon at the Conlan Recreation Center.

Michael Wiilson scored 14 points and had six rebounds to lead the Penguins (15-9, 10-8 PacWest), while Stephen Ransom finished with 13 points and four blocks. Aidan Mandel finished with 17 points for the Warriors (15-9, 12-6) to go with eight rebounds, while Trey Thompson added 13 points and six assists. Westmont was on fire from behind the arc hitting 52.2% of their 3-point shots and outrebounding Dominican 36-25.

The Penguins pushed the pace early and made multiple trips to the free-throw line to get out to an 8-3 lead in the first three minutes of the game. The Warriors did not let the lead grow and Chase Collins tied the game with a 3-pointer, but Jorge Ochoa quickly answered on the other end to keep the Penguins ahead 13-10 at the 15-minute mark. After Davon Smith gave Westmont a 1-point lead on a layup, Austin Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing to spark a 7-0 run to hand Dominican the 20-14 lead near the 10-minute mark of the half. 

Aidan Mandel hit a 3-pointer for the Warriors as they once again closed back within one, but Omari Davis scored the next four with a steal and a slam to take the 24-19 lead. Davis hit a 3-pointer to end the 9-3 run with Dominican leading by seven with 7:28 left in the half. Dominican continued to add to its lead slowly until Stephen Ransom and Nick Medeiros knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 42-30 with two minutes remaining in the half. 

Dominican took an 11-point lead into the second half, four quick points helped Westmont close back within seven but Ochoa answered with a 3-pointer to get the Penguins settled in. The Warriors quickly took a lead getting three-points in three different ways on three straight possessions before Braydon Bigott got a steal and a layup to take a 46-45 lead with 16:21 left. 

The runs were small and the answers quick for both teams over the next 11 minutes as the lead began to seesaw as teams looked for an advantage. The hot shooting by Westmont behind the arc finally took its toll as a 10-2 run pushed them ahead 83-76 with 2:17 remaining in the game. Michael Wilson knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner to stop the run, but the Penguins were unable to get the stops and buckets they needed down the stretch.

Dominican hits the road as it gets rematches with its last two opponents on their home courts beginning with Biola at Chase Gymnasium on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. PST in La Mirada.