SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University junior Elijah Martinez buried a 3-pointer with 12 seconds to play and sophomore Jakob Kimura blocked a put-back attempt in the final second as the Sharks beat Dominican (Calif.) 75-72 in PacWest Conference play Tuesday night at the Conlan Center.
 
The Sharks (5-18, 2-14) saw the Penguins (7-17, 3-13) use a 7-0 run to tie the contest with 49 seconds remaining before the Sharks late heroics.
 
Martinez, from Denver, Colo./Regis Jesuit, led the Sharks with a career-high 20 points, hitting five 3-pointers including the game winner. Redshirt freshman Jackson Young of Kerrville, Texas/Tivy came off the bench with 13 points, and junior Trey Chapman of Healdsburg, Calif./Healdsburg just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
 
Dominican got 22 points from Anthony Dennis and 21 points from Zamaria Odom. Adam Parker grabbed six rebounds for the Penguins.
 
HPU shot 42 percent from the floor (24-of-57), including an outstanding 11-of-26 (42 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks made 16-of-21 (76 percent) from the foul line. The Penguins hit 41 percent from the field (21-of-51), including 7-of-21 (33 percent) from behind the arc. DUC converted 23-of-27 shots (85 percent) from the charity stripe. HPU outrebounded DUC 39-29, but suffered 14 turnovers to the Penguins nine.
 
The Sharks jumped out to an early lead with a 12-4 run to start the contest, and extended the lead to 26-13 with 9:28 to play in the half on a layup from junior Trey Miller from Mukilteo, Wash./Archbishop Murphy.
 
But the Penguins countered with a 12-3 run to pull close, then chipped away until getting the game tied with two minutes in the half. HPU grabbed a lead on three free throws from Young with 10 seconds left in the half, only to witness Dennis bury 3-pointer at the horn to knot the game at 36-36 at the break.
 
The Penguins and Sharks exchanged the lead five times in the first nine minutes of the second frame until the Sharks got a pair of 3-pointers from Kimura to take the lead midway through the half to start a 9-2 run that was capped by a pair of Miller free throws. HPU and DUC traded scores returning to a seven-point 70-63 Shark lead with two minutes to play.
 
Dominican trimmed the lead, but the Sharks returned it to a five-point differential on a Martinez driving layup with 1:09 to go. But the Penguins got a pair of Dennis free throws and forced a turnover that led to Odom's game-tying triple with 49 seconds left. The Sharks worked the time down for Martinez go-ahead trey with 12 seconds to go. After HPU called a timeout, the Sharks defense forced a missed 3 by Odom, but Chase Anderson got the rebound and went up with an attempt that Kimura blocked to save HPU's 75-72 win.
 
The Sharks remain in the Bay area for their next two contests, with Academy of Art on tap on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. HST (7 p.m. PST) at Notre Dame de Namur's Gleason Gymnasium in Belmont, Calif.