Like a halfback loose in a defensive secondary,
Hansel Atencia burst up the sideline, past two trailing Hope International defenders, a clear path to two points unfolding before him.
But Atencia dribbled under the basket and back outside the three-point line. It was a victory lap of sorts, the No. 4 Mustangs well on their way to an 88-72 win over the No. 7 Royals at TMU on Saturday night.
As seen in Atencia's heady play, bleeding what remained of the second-half clock, the Mustangs better managed in-game situations down the stretch and put away a conference opponent with authority not always seen in an otherwise impressive 2017-18 campaign.
Master's is 21-1 overall and 7-0 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. It has won 20 straight games, the longest streak in program history. But the Mustangs have too often let teams hang around. Not Saturday.
A 12-3 run out of halftime ballooned an 11-point lead into a 20-point advantage five minutes into the second period.
Atencia finished with a team-high 26 points, and
Delewis Johnson followed with 22 points in a breakthrough performance.
Mustang coaches have prodded Johnson to use his strong frame to finish on the low block. Saturday, he attacked.
"(I wanted to) go downhill like coach has been saying all year," Johnson said. "I've kind of been fighting it a little bit and trying to be someone I'm not."
Johnson made 7-of-14 shots, attempting only two threes.
Lawrence Russell finished with 15 points for TMU, but his biggest impact came on defense, where the Mustangs limited the Royals to 22% shooting from behind the arc and 35% from the field.
"Defense, defense," Atencia said of what made the difference in TMU's 17-3 run in the first half that erased a 14-11 deficit.
The Mustangs never trailed again, building on last season's double-overtime win over Hope in the GSAC tournament title game with just its second win over the Royals in the teams' last 13 meetings.
Hope (19-3, 5-2), which has lost two straight games after winning 17 in a row, remains one of the biggest threats to TMU's first-ever regular-season GSAC title. The teams will meet again in Fullerton on Feb. 22, and the Royals may by then have the services of star center Liam Hunt, who missed Saturday night's game.
"We're halfway there to our first goal," Atencia said, "which is to win the conference and go to the conference tournament."
Notes: Tim Soares' three blocks made him TMU's single-season record holder with 68. Paul Brown set the previous mark with 65 in 2011-2012.
