Over the first month of the season, as the Mustangs carried on a love-hate relationship with shot making, coach Kelvin Starr's message remained the same.
"Put everything into defense and rebounding," guard Hodges Bailey recalled his coach saying. "Sometimes shots will fall and sometimes not. Control what you can control."
On days like Saturday, when Master's brings it on defense, crashes the boards and puts the ball in the basket, beating the Mustangs becomes a wearisome, if not impossible, chore.Â
No. 1-ranked TMU ran past Trinity International 91-73 on the final day of Vanguard University's tournament in Costa Mesa behind another balanced scoring attack and smothering defense.
Tim Soares led the Mustangs with 17 points and 11 rebounds in his third double-double of the season. Brock Gardner recorded his second double-double, this one with 15 points and 11 rebounds. And Hansel Atencia contributed 16 points and nine assists.
Bailey (14 points) and Michael Taylor (10) rounded out those Mustangs in double figures in what was the team's sixth straight win.Â
Bailey made 3-of-6 three-point attempts, and Master's (6-1) made 8-of-22. The stats didn't necessarily bear it out over the course of a game that got out of hand late in the first half when TMU went on a 25-7 run, but the Mustangs felt better about the way they shot the ball early.
"Best half of the season as far as that goes," Starr said.
Said Bailey, "We shot the ball better and passed the ball better, and those two go hand in hand."
The Trojans (7-4), who hail from Deerfield, Illinois, entered the game in the top 10 in NAIA Division 2 in 3-pointers made. They tossed in eight threes Saturday – but needed 27 attempts to do so.
"We challenged them to make tough shots," said Bailey. "We could live with shots they hit over outstretched arms as along as we didn't give them good looks and let them get going early."
Didn't happen.Â
As for individuals, Jamal Bailey entered the game leading the Trojans in scoring at 16.1 points a game. He reached 18 on Saturday – but needed 18 shots to do it, constantly having to deal with Gardner's size and athleticism. Gardner – at 6-foot-7 – had a four inch advantage on Bailey.
"He's a mismatch defensively on about anyone he guards," Hodges Bailey said of Gardner, whose dunk gave the Mustangs a 31-point lead with seven minutes left in regulation.
The dunk's assist had a familiar source: Atencia, whose nine assists were a season high.
"He responded perfectly from a tough game last night," Starr said of the senior point guard. "Tonight, he scored when we needed him to and distributed when we needed him to. If he plays like that, we're going to win a lot of games."
It's a task that will grow more difficult.
The Mustangs will be off until Thursday when they travel to Surprise, Arizona, for their Golden State Athletic Conference opener against Ottawa University Arizona.
The game will be the Spirit's GSAC debut. Ottawa is 1-4 on the year but is coming off a 90-84 victory over Benedictine Mesa.
"It's a totally different challenge," Starr said of conference play, adding, "You'd like to be more ready. But this weekend was helpful. I feel better than I did a week ago. Any time you go on the road in conference, especially to Arizona right off the bat, is a tough task."
Master's will play Ottawa, Arizona Christian and San Diego Christian away from TMU before returning to Bross Court for a non-conference game on Dec. 15 against Westcliff University.
