The Dominican University men's basketball had a pair of chances in the final ten seconds, one to tie and the other to win, but could not get either to go in a 74-72 loss to the visiting Lawrence University Vikings on Saturday night in the Igini Sports Forum to open the 2015-2016 season.
 
The Vikings shot better than fifty percent in the first half, including going 6-for-12 from three-point range, to build a 39-27 lead at the half but the Stars refused to go quietly.
 
Dominican started the second half on a 13-4 run over the first 3:30 to narrow gap to a 43-40.  After a quick four-point spurt for the Vikings, Dominican answered with 5-0 run with a baseline jumper by Josh Mayberry (Canton, Mich.) before Rich Bodee (Darien, Ill.) nailed his second three pointer of the half to pull the Stars within 47-45 with 13:32 to play.
 
After the sides traded a few baskets, Dominican eventually evened the score at 54-54 on a turnaround jumper in the paint by sophomore Tim Robertson (Chicago, Ill.) and then took their first lead of the second half when freshman Isaac Moore (Chicago, Ill.) knocked down a long three in transition with less than ten minutes to play.
 
Lawrence answered with the next four points to pull back in front, 58-57, before Mayberry gave Dominican their final lead, 59-58, on a pull up jumper along the baseline with eight minutes to play.
 
Jamie Nikitas scored two of his game-high 23 on the next possession, driving the lane for an easy layup at the rim.  After Bodee missed on the front end of a one-and-one, Nikitas put back a rebound of his own shot to push the Vikings' lead to 65-61 with 6:15 to play.
 
After a Dominican second-chance bucket for Mike Bobek (Orland Hills, Ill.), Lawrence's Jeremy Stephanie drained a deep three in front of the Lawrence bench to put the Vikings ahead by four.
 
Robertson answered with a three of his own on the Stars' next possession to make it 65-64 with 5:45 remaining in the second half.
 
The Vikings' lead hovered between one and four points the remainder of the way with Mayberry converting a pair of free throws for the Stars with just 16 seconds to play to cut the Vikings' lead to 73-72.
 
After Nikitas split a pair of free throws, Mayberry knifed down the lane and got to the rim on the left side of the basket but his layup was too strong.  The rebound was batted out of bounds and Dominican got one final look with 1.9 seconds, inbounding to Quinn Pokora (Mundelein, Ill.), who was 2-for-4 from three, at the top of the key but his desperation attempt banged off the glass and hit the rim before falling out as time expired.

"The team battled tonight," said Dominican's head coach Mark White following the back and forth affair. "We dug a hole in the first half and it was nice to see the resolve we played with in the second half. Unfortunately, all of our effort wasn't able to overcome our breakdowns, turnovers and poor shot selection the last ten minutes of the game. We will get better but it is going to require a concerted team effort to improve in those areas."
 
Robertson led the way for Dominican with a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Mayberry added 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting from the field while Pokora finished with 12 points to round out three in double-figures scoring for the Stars.
 
For the Vikings, Nikitas led the way with a game-high 23 points on 10-for-20 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds.  Stephani chipped in 17 points, going 5-for-13 from three-point range while six-foot, seven-inch Mitch Willer added 15 in the winning effort.
 
Dominican, 0-1 on the season, opens Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) action on Tuesday, traveling to Mequon, Wisconsin, to take on the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.