It may not have been pretty, maybe not even satisfactory, but Sacramento State will take the win.

The men’s basketball team defeated Dominican, an NAIA Division II team, 76-65 on Tuesday in front of 962 fans on opening night at the Hornets Nest.

“We knew this was their home opener and they would be excited,” Dominican head coach Bill Treseler said. “We thought if we could get off to a good start, maybe take the wind out of their sails, then we could hang in there.”

Throughout the night, there were flashes of what Sac State’s offense could be — good ball movement that led to three Brandon Guyton 3-pointers, four steals on the full-court press that led to baskets, two dunks each for Jameel Pugh and Joel Jones and four assists from guard Joseth Dawson.

But Sac State (1-1) had its other moments too.

The Hornets turned the ball over 18 times — four more than the team had against No. 17-ranked Stanford in a 77-59 loss on Saturday night. They took quick shots that didn’t fall, drove into the key before waiting for the next pass and were able to capitalize on only five of their 11 team steals.

“It’s just all mixed up right now…We’re not even playing organized basketball,” Jones said. “We’re going to have to give up individual adulation to gain it for the team. Everybody is going to have to look at themselves and say, ‘I can’t do certain things I want to.’ We have to play like a team and we are not even doing it.”

Jones led the team on 5-of-9 shooting with 13 points, while the Penguins’ Marcus Williams led all scorers with 16 points.

The team had a 32-26 lead at the half, but had let the Penguins pull down 11 offensive rebounds, leaving the smaller team multiple second-chance scoring opportunities.

“We got off to a slow start. Guys weren’t as hyped compared to the Stanford game,” Pugh said. “We weren’t running off adrenaline.”

Pugh posted eight points and 10 rebounds in his 22 minutes of work. The small forward saw limited time after being called for three fouls in the span of 37 seconds in the second half.

Hornet head coach Jerome Jenkins has largely relied on his guards for offensive output this season, but forward Cedric Thompkins was able to post his first double-double of the season with 12 points and ten rebounds.

“The point guard was doing a good job of finding me open,” Thompkins said. “I was just letting the game come to me.”

Starting point guard DaShawn Freeman, who had four assists, shot 1-of-4 from the floor and committed two turnovers, has been playing inconsistent according to Jenkins. Freeman was substituted with transfer E.J. Harris and Dawson, who Jenkins would rather have playing at the wing.

“I didn’t coach very hard tonight,” Jenkins said. “I let my guys struggle through this. Like I told them, ‘the bottom lime is, through all the adversity you found a way to win the game.’ That to me is a showing sign of a team that is improving. You play ugly but you still win.”

Sac State’s next test will be at Cal State Fullerton (0-2) on Saturday.

“We just have to start fine tuning our offense,” Pugh said.

An offense that includes Jones and Pugh, who sat out last season, Freeman and Thompkins, who are new to the starting lineup, and a new full-court press defense that Jenkins is trying to implement.

“Right now we are just mixing and matching a lot of guys,” Pugh said. “We are going to go through some growing pains.”