On The Line

Saturday, February 13

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

19-6,10-5PWC

Dominican (Calif.)

12-11, 8-8PWC

Dominican (CA)

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

2/13/2016 9:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sammi Sheppard, Director of Sports Information

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — California Baptist University has seen its fair share of close games that go all the way down to the wire. While they haven't always gone in CBU's favor, the Lancers have competed all the way to the end.

The same was seen Saturday night, this time with the Lancers coming away with the one-point victory, defeating Dominican University of California 89-88.

"We needed this," said head coach Rick Croy. "We needed a one-possession win. Our guys battled and they earned it. That was a great game in a great college environment. I'm real proud of our guys for finishing."

CBU improves to 19-6 overall, 10-5 in the PacWest, with just five regular-season games left. The Penguins fall to 12-11 on the year, 8-8 in conference.

Michael Smith led the Lancers with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Gelaun Wheelwright followed and joined Smith in the 1000-point club after coming into the contest with 994 career points. He finished with 17 on the night, shooting 5-for-10. Trevone Williams (4-for-5) and Kalidou Diouf (3-for-6) each chipped in 11 points, while Jordan Heading added 10 points.

Neither team could establish a significant lead early, tying the game nine times in the first 13 minutes of the game. Dominican had taken a one-point lead, 30-29, but Diouf finished a chance at the charity stripe to even the score up at 30-30.

The Penguins managed to jump back in front, going up by five with just under four minutes remaining in the half, but the Lancers kept battling. Smith sank an easy three from the corner, finding nothing but net, to put his team within two, 42-40, but Dominican would hold the 47-43 lead at halftime.

CBU came into the second half looking to turn things around, but couldn't get momentum to shift just yet. Dominican had a response for every basket to hold onto a double-possession cushion.

"I thought we came out defending well in the second half, but Dominican stayed with it," said Croy. "Dominican is a great team and came out playing great basketball."

Smith hit a jump shot just inside the three-point arc, 58-52, and Croy called a timeout. The Lancers then got a big stop on defense as Alexander Birketoft drew a charge to force a Penguin turnover.

Trevone Williams scored on the next play, continuing CBU off on a 10-0 spurt to even the game at 58-58 with 13 minutes remaining. Smith and Wheelwright each got in on the run by driving to the basket on two different occasions.

Marquise Mosley found a lane to the basket but was fouled in the process to be sent to the free throw line. He hit both his chances at the stripe to give CBU its first lead of the second half, 60-58, and cap the run at 10-0.

The Lancers looked to distance themselves in the final 10 minutes of the game, but the Penguins stayed right on their tail. Dominican cut the margin to two points, 69-67, but Smith drove hard to the basket and banked it in off the glass to keep the visitors at bay.

Dominican kept pressing, however, and tied the score up at 74-74 with about six minutes left on the clock. Croy called a timeout and Giusti scored right out of the break to give CBU a 76-74 lead heading down the stretch.

Heading drained a much-needed three-pointer to give his team some distance, 80-76. The Penguins answered back, but Williams hit two free throws to keep his team in front by four.

After taking Dixie State into overtime last week, CBU was determined to not force extra play Saturday, but Dominican was determined to not go down without a fight.

With 30 seconds remaining on the clock and trailing by one, 86-85, CBU had to dig deep. The first shots didn't fall for the Lancers, but Diouf drew a foul under the basket to be sent to the charity stripe. He hit both his chances, but Dominican got two of its own to take back the lead, 88-87, with less than 10 seconds remaining.

"We have been resilient," said Croy of the previous games that have come down to the wire. "Sometimes when those games go against you, it stings, but a lot of those games we fought back in. Our guys are fighting and our best basketball is yet to be played. We just have to stay in the process and keep trying to get better. We're a long way away from playing our best basketball."

There was still plenty of time left for CBU to grab a game-winner and Wheelwright looked like he'd get it as he drove through traffic straight to the basket. He drew a foul in the process and finished both his chances at the line with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to seal the victory 89-88.

CBU closes out its home schedule on Monday, hosting Concordia (Calif.) at 7:00 p.m. The Lancers will look for redemption after dropping a tough, 82-81 loss in Irvine at the end of January. CBU will honor its senior class prior to tip off.

"There's going to be a lot of intensity Monday," said Croy. "Both teams will be ready to play. It will be a great environment in Van Dyne once again. We're looking forward to a great game."