SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - Josh Rodriguez had 25 points, five rebounds and five assists to lead the Point Loma men's basketball team to an 81-77 win over Dominican on Thursday, Jan. 5.
 
The Sea Lions have now posted their second winning streak under coach Ryan Looney, as they have rattled off three straight wins in the last week to improve to 8-6 on the season and to 4-3 in the PacWest (sixth place). The loss drops DUC to 4-9 on the season and to 3-4 in the PacWest.
 
Battling a cold this week, no one was sure how effective Rodriguez would be, but he posted one of his best all-around games of the season. He scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half, including hitting multiple floaters in the lane as well as three 3-pointers.
 
"Josh is becoming more comfortable offensively for us," said Point Loma head coach Ryan Looney. "It took him a little while but he is getting there. We are now just working with him to grow on the defensive end as well."
 
Rodriguez's 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in the game set the tone for the Sea Lions, which had only eight turnovers (second-lowest of the season). This allowed PLNU to outscore DUC 14-6 in points off turnovers and 8-4 in fast break points. Point Loma also hit 11 3-pointers (11-of-28) to outpoint Dominican by 15 from behind the arc.  
 
"I don't think right now (the 3-pointer) is ever a plan for us," said Looney, "but for stretches in the game they doubled the post and that is what was available. We were fortunate to make enough of them tonight."
 
The Sea Lions needed every basket they could get to hold off a late Penguins' comeback. After leading by four at the half (31-27), Point Loma pushed their advantage to 15 points (60-45) with just over seven minutes remaining. DUC then went on a 15-3 run to cut the Sea Lions lead to three points (63-60) with four minutes on the clock. Point Loma then dug their feet in and would not allow its lead to shrink any more.
 
PLNU pushed its lead back to nine with 1:37 remaining behind seven points from Rodriguez and a clutch 3-pointer from Trevor Peterson, but still Dominican would not yield. They cut the lead to three points (80-77) on a deep '3' by Jeremiah Gray with 17 seconds left, but Peterson was fouled on the ensuing possession and knocked down 1-of-2 free throws to seal the win. In the final four minutes, Point Loma was 8-of-11 from the free throw line and held the Penguins to just 1-of-5 from 3-point range.
 
 
"It is hard to simulate those types of situations in practice, so in two straight games we were able to get ourselves in some late game situations which we really struggled with early in the year," explained Looney. "It was nice to see us get over that hump a little bit."
 
Point Loma also received 11 points from Sterling Somers. It was the fifth straight game in double-figures for the freshman. Vince Boumann came off the bench tonight to score 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and he also hauled in a game-high eight rebounds while dishing out four assists. The PLNU posts had seven of the team's 14 assists.  
 
Gray posted 28 points for Dominican to lead all scorers. Josh Ramirez added 17 points and seven rebounds, and Ryo Tawatari had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
 
Point Loma will return to San Diego to play eight of their next nine games at home. The Sea Lions will open the stretch against Fresno Pacific on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The game will also be the Welcome Back game for the PLNU students returning from Christmas break.