Passionate Comeback

Thursday, January 8

Riverside

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

12-1, 6-0PW

Dominican (Calif.)

6-8, 3-3PW

Dominican (CA)

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

1/8/2015 9:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sammi Sheppard, Director of Sports Information

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Despite facing adversity Thursday night, No. 11-ranked California Baptist University showed heart and battled from behind to take a 76-69 win over Dominican University of California.

"Tremendous support from our students and everyone who was here tonight, it made a big difference," said head coach Rick Croy. "Our defense carried us tonight. On a night where we went 4-for-20 from three, when it mattered most, we got some stops."

The Lancers improve to 12-1 overall and 6-0 in the PacWest. The Penguins drop to 6-8 on the season and 3-3 in conference with the loss.

"Tonight was another reminder that every single conference game is going to be a dog fight," said Croy. "You have to be ready for every single one. Our guys did a good job preparing for tonight, but I thought Dominican had an excellent game plan and was focused. They were determined to come out and get a win. It's just another reminder that you have to be able to win different types of games. When the ball is going in, you have to be able to defend. When the ball is not going in, you have to find a way to create turnovers and make your defense work for you to win ball games."

Taj Spencer led four Lancers in double figures, posting 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Gelaun Wheelwright followed with 21 points (4-for-15), while Jordan Giusti and Michael Smith (3-for-9) followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Giusti shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 1-for-1 from the perimeter, while dishing out five assists and only one turnover. He also added three steals on the night.

"In the Bay Area, I had a bad game where I made a few mistakes so my coaches told me to go out there and play with my passion and not worry about making mistakes," said Giusti. "I think that passion carried over today and our team played with the most passion than we ever have. When the fans show up like that, they make a huge impact on us."

After keeping it close in the opening minutes, CBU found itself facing some adversity as the Penguins jumped out in front 28-12. Giusti finally managed to cut the run, sending a jumper through the hoop. Spencer followed with a free throw and Smith sank a three to spark a Lancer run.

CBU keyed in on defense as Giusti stole the ball away and Brown forced a turnover to put the Lancers within six points at 33-27 and just about a minute remaining before halftime.

"Coach Josh Dunaj talked about competitive greatness in the locker room at halftime," said Croy. "We moved on to the next play tonight when it wasn't working and that helped us down the stretch."

Coming out of the break with the Penguins in front 37-27 and set to inbound the ball, Brown stole it away before they could get the pass off and banked it off the glass to cut the margin to six points once more.

The Penguins built back their double-digit lead, but the Lancers kept battling—led by Giusti's hustle—and grabbed crucial rebounds to keep the visitors off the glass. Needing to make stops and put a run together, Spencer snagged a defensive board to allow Giusti to sink a three and cut the lead to 50-41 with 11 minutes remaining.

"Giusti is a great competitor," said Croy. "He plays as hard as anyone I've ever coached. He has a huge heart. He's getting better and better, finishing at the rim and making all the right decisions."

Spencer battled to the basket to bring the Lancers within five at 52-47 and Eric Hunt boxed out for a defensive rebound to keep the run going. Wheelwright ignited the crowd with a basket on the counter, putting CBU within one point. He evened the score and gave CBU the lead, 53-52, off two free throws, but the run still wasn't over.

As the ball looked to be in the scorer's table, Giusti hustled to keep it in play, finding Wheelwright on the attack. Wheelwright knocked in the shot and drew a flagrant foul. Back at the line, the junior guard sank two shots to extend CBU's lead to 57-52.

"Gelaun getting to the foul line changed the game," said Croy. "He made a decision to get there when we put them in double bonus and that was huge. That was really when we made our move."

The Penguins finally managed to end the 18-0 run off a three-pointer, but the Lancers kept the pressure on thick as the two teams entered the last five-minute stretch.

Both teams fought for control as the time was ticking away. With less than a minute left on the clock, Dominican put itself within an arm's reach at 70-68. The Penguins wanted a stop on defense, but Giusti had another idea as he drove to the basket to make it a two-possession game, 72-68.

Dominican missed a crucial shot at the charity stripe and couldn't get a stop off as Spencer was left all alone to dunk it in the net, giving the Penguins no hope for a miracle. Smith sealed the 76-69 win with two free shots to keep the Lancers' PacWest record unblemished.

CBU is back in action on Saturday, hosting Academy of Art at 7:00 p.m. The Urban Knights gave the Lancers a run for their money the last time the two teams faced off as CBU had to force a 76-74 overtime win.