The Dominican University men's basketball team trimmed a 21-point second half deficit all the way down to eight before the comeback ran out of steam in an 80-70 loss to the MSOE Raiders on Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee to open Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play for the Stars.  The loss drops Dominican to 1-2 on the season with the home opener slated for Tuesday when the Lakeland University Muskies visit the Igini Sports Forum at 7:00 p.m.
 
"This is the second game in a row that our opponent has shot over seventy percent from the field in the first half," said Mark White, the Stars' head coach. "The lack of an overall team commitment to the defensive end of the floor has led to a couple of double digit losses."
 
The Stars shot 50-percent from the field in the first half but found themselves with an 11-point deficit after the Raiders managed to convert at a 72-percent clip over the first 20 minutes, going 21-for-29 from the field, including 6-for-8 from three.
 
Over the first 12 minutes of the second half, the Raiders added on to their lead, extending the lead all the way to 21, 70-49, on Travis Ballard's lay in with 8:57 to play.
 
The Stars outscored the Raiders 13-0 over the next six-plus minutes to trim the Raiders' lead to eight, 70-62, before a pair of free throws finally snapped the MSOE scoring drought with 2:20 to play.
 
Dominican could not get any closer as the Raiders converted on three of their four trips to the foul line in the final 68 seconds.
 
Tim Robertson led three in double-figures for the Stars, scoring a game-high 16 points on 7-for-16 shooting.  The senior also pulled down seven rebounds, including three on the offensive end.  Jonny Woolf added 11 points while Antonio Amoah led a Dominican bench that scored 37 points with ten on 4-for-6 shooting, including a pair of three-point field goals.
 
For the Raiders, Tegan Miles led the way with 14 points while Jason Palesse, Matthew Kirmse and Sammy Linn finished with 13 apiece.