SAN RAFAEL, Calif.- Dominican men's basketball (14-8, 9-7) went over the century mark Monday night in their dominant victory over conference foe Azusa Pacific. At halftime, all the Penguin student-athletes were recognized for their hard work in the classroom by winning the 2025 PacWest Academic Achievement award. The black and gold had five players over double figures with Darius Best leading the way going for 22 points while dishing three assists.

Stephen Ransom got the raucous Penguin crowd on their feet early when he called his own number finishing with a strong lay-up to get Dominican on the board. Then a few possessions later it was junior Michael Wilson showing off his offensive arsenal with a smooth looking step-back jumper over the Cougars defender.

The Cougars offense would catch fire midway through the first half thanks in part to a barrage of three-pointers. Caleb Oden led their offense with a couple longballs while as a team, they hit eight three-pointers with six different players.

Dominican found themselves down double-digits late in the first, but their defense didn't give in. A couple blocks from Ransom and Wilson energized the black and gold, and on the offensive side of the ball, Austin Johnson sparked a run from behind the arc. Johnson, the Richmond native, provided the Pengs with a spark off the bench coming in and hitting his treys. The Pengs would close out the half on a 5-0 run capped off by a three-pointer by Darius Best who called bank.

The black and gold would start the second similar to how they started the game with a nice-looking lay-up from Ransom and then a couple of long-balls from Wilson and senior Jorge Ochoa which tied the game at 56. Fellow senior Darius Best would follow suit and catch fire in the second scoring from all over the court with driving lay-ups and sweet looking jumpers.

Late into the second half, both teams were trading buckets. Best, Wilson, and fellow guard Nick Medeiros all stepped up when the Pengs needed veteran scorers to put the Cougars away. Omari Davis put an exclamation on this one for the black and gold as he read the APU offense and quickly came up with a steal where he converted it on the other end with a high-flying slam. 

Dominican will be back on the court Feb. 12th when they host Biola at 7:30 p.m.