(SAN RAFAEL, Calif.) PLNU Men's Basketball opened up the new year with a dominant 87-62 win at Dominican on Thursday.
 
After the Penguins gave the then-ranked 10th Sea Lions their first PacWest defeat of the season on Dec. 13, Point Loma responded in an emphatic way with its largest victory against an NCAA opponent this season.
 
PLNU began the game on an 18-3 run, as Jaden Matingou's fastbreak layup put the Sea Lions up by 15 less than five minutes into the game.
 
Then after leading by double digits at halftime, Point Loma extended that to as many as 28 on a few occasions, with the Sea Lions shooting a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line in the second half.
 
Tyce Paulsen led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 5-for-6 from 3-point range, while Andrew Nagy scored 12 points.
 
Caden Harris (14 points) and Judson Loe (11 points) helped PLNU's bench outscore that of Dominican by a 38-21 margin.
 
Point Loma (9-3 overall, 4-2 PacWest) concludes its northern California trip on Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Menlo.