LANCASTER, CALIF. – It was the kind of play that
Darryl McDowell-White's gifts of athletic ability and anticipation often lead to.
The junior guard peeled off his man, pursued Antelope Valley's Christian Drayton and blocked the 6-foot-9 forward's shot from behind.
McDowell-White then tracked down the rebound along the baseline, jumped and saved it to
Brock Gardner, who hurtled up court and was fouled.
After the whistle, Gardner continued toward the hoop, elevating and cocking his right arm back. But he restrained himself and returned to the floor, ball in hand. There would be no style points, not in the closing moments of an ugly game with no flow due to a host of fouls and stingy defense.
But aesthetics did not concern the Mustangs. They were pleased to leave the Pioneer Event Center in Lancaster with a hard-fought 74-66 win, their fourth straight victory since dropping the season opener.
McDowell-White drew one of the evening's more challenging assignments in point guard Miles Nolen-Webb, a transfer from Cal State Northridge.
McDowell-White hounded Nolen-Webb for the better part of the night, setting the tone in TMU's best defensive showing of the young season. It was the first time the Mustangs had held a team below 76 points.
"He was everywhere," center
Tim Soares said of McDowell-White.
The game remained in question until the final minute, much like the teams' meeting in Lancaster last season, when the Pioneers stunned the Mustangs 87-84 in the second game of the year.
Master's didn't take anything for granted this time, but that didn't keep the Pioneers (0-8), a talented team desperate for its first win of the season after playing a brutal early schedule, from taking a three-point advantage at the half.
Down the stretch, the Mustangs put their money on Gardner, whose size and agility made him difficult, and on this night impossible, for Antelope Valley to guard without fouling. Gardner made 13 of the 17 free throws he attempted over the final 20 minutes. He made 15-of-19 in all. But his biggest bucket came with the score knotted at 59 and the clock hovering around five minutes.
Gardner caught the ball with his back to the basket, spun and scooped the ball toward the backboard. Antelope Valley was called for goal tending and a foul. The play sparked a 9-2 run.
But in the end it was defense – the facet of TMU's game that proved most faulty in high-scoring wins over Bethesda and Saint Katherine last week – that sealed the win.
Master's held the Pioneers to three points for a four minute span, from the 4:52 mark to down inside the final minute.
"This was like a (Golden State Athletic Conference) game," said coach
Kelvin Starr. "You face some adversity, some foul trouble, and you have to find ways to get stops. Down the stretch, we got three or four stops to win the game."
Gardner finished with a game-high 21 points. Soares contributed 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks on a night in which he played with a conviction to rule the paint. It appeared every time the 6-foot-10 center caught the ball within three feet of the cup, he set his mind on flushing it.
"I think I've been going kind of away from going in the post," Soares said. "A big part of my game is getting as close as I can to the basket and going straight at it and putting it in. I was focusing on that tonight."
Soares also walked a fine line between being physical with Drayton and not fouling out on a night when 57 fouls were doled out between the teams.
Four Mustangs ended the night with four or five fouls, Soares finally fouling out in the final minute.
Hansel Atencia, who picked up his fourth personal with eight minutes to play but never drew another, finished with 12 points and three steals.
McDowell-White scored four points and dished out five assists, but his impact went beyond the stat sheet.
"Darryl was elite defensively all night," Starr said.
McDowell-White wasn't sure he would play until Tuesday morning because of a sprained ankle that kept him out of Saturday night's win over Saint Katherine.
He felt fine at a shootaround in the morning and decided to play. Later that night, he was the last to leave the locker room inside Antelope Valley's cavernous event center – having held Nolen-Webb to nine points on seven shots.
"Coach said, 'You're on him.' And I said, 'Yeah, I have to take care of him.' Because he's the one who runs their offense. He's the one it all goes through."
There was plenty of credit to go around in what was TMU's most cohesive game to this point. The Mustangs made a concentrated effort to rotate and communicate on defense. On offense, they did a better job of running their offense and trusting each other.
"This was a big step in the right direction for us," Starr said.
