HONOLULU — Hawai'i Pacific University took over sole possession of first place in the PacWest Conference with a 79-66 win over Dominican (Calif.) on Thursday night at Moanalua High School Gym.
 
The Sharks (9-0, 3-0) extended their winning streak to nine but it wasn't easy. The Penguins (3-6, 2-1) dropped their first PacWest contest this season.
 
"We were very sluggish to start the game," said HPU head coach Darrin Vorderbruegge. "But I'm so proud of the way we buckled down, didn't let it bother us and played through the adversity. It's great to learn a lesson and still get a win."
 
HPU fell behind by 14 points after the first seven-and-a half minutes, but went on a 32-10 run for the rest of the half to take a lead they would never relinquish.
 
The Sharks were led by swingman Chauncey Orr, the 6-4 graduate student from Bowling Green, Ky./Bowling Green, who just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, to go with three assists and two steals. Three other Sharks scored in double figures, with senior Elliott DeFreitas, the 6-10 forward from Essex, England/County Upper collected 12 points, guard Connor Looney, the 6-2 senior from Palmer, Alaska/Palmer, added 11 points with seven boards, and sophomore Spencer Vering, a 6-6 forward from San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic, posting 10 points. Senior Jordan Martin the 5-11 guard from Goodyear, Ariz./Millennium, just missed a double-double with eight points and eight assists with six boards.
 
Dominican got a game-high 21 points from Jeremiah Gray, along with 13 points from Quentin Mendoza.
 
HPU shot 50 percent from the floor (30-of-60), 37 percent from the 3-point arc (7-of-19) and 75 percent (12-of-16) from the free throw line. DUC hit 44 percent from the field (24-of-54), 42 percent from the arc (8-of-19) and 71 percent from the foul line (10-of-14). The Sharks crushed the Penguins on the boards, 42-24.
 
After HPU opened the scoring hitting 1-of-2 free throws, Dominican answered with a 10-1 run and extended that to an 18-4 lead.
 
The Sharks got a 3-pointer from senior forward Colfax Nordquist of Elk Grove, Calif./Pleasant Grove to stem the bleeding, followed by an Orr jumper. DUC's Mendoza hit a trey to put the Penguins up 21-9 with 11:02 to play in the half.
 
Vering answered with a 3-pointer on the next possession for HPU to start a 14-2 run to tie the game at 23-all six minutes later on a fastbreak layup by junior forward Jonothan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain Creek.
 
DUC hit the front end of two-shot free throw to lead 24-23, but it wasn't enough as DeFreitas nailed a jumper with 5:13 to play to put HPU up 25-24 and the Sharks never trailed again, starting another 8-0 run.
 
When the half was over, HPU had gone up by 10 before settling for a 36-28 halftime advantage.
 
The Sharks used a 14-3 run to open the second half and put a lead up to 19-points, but had to hold on as the Penguins cut the HPU advantage to six at 67-61 with 2:10 to play.
 
HPU answered with a layup by DeFreitas, a jumper by Looney and a steal by Nordquist that led to a transition layup by Orr to put the contest away.
 
The HPU men are back in PacWest play on Saturday night as they visit Laie to face BYU-Hawaii at the Cannon Activities Center. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.