No matter how quickly the Mustangs rushed up the floor, muscled or sliced their way into the paint and put the ball in the basket in the closing minutes of Thursday's game, there was no erasing what had happened at the end of the first half.
Menlo College outscored the Mustangs by 16 in the final four minutes before intermission and held on for the upset, 93-81, inside a full Haynes-Prim Pavilion in Atherton.
Menlo's play-by-play announcer dubbed it the best win in program history.
For No. 7 Master's (19-4, 8-3 in GSAC), its fourth loss equals one more than last year's total, but its path to a repeat conference championship didn't grow any steeper.
Vanguard lost to Arizona Christian on Thursday, remaining half a game ahead of TMU in Golden State Athletic Conference standings.
Master's had just pulled into a 34-34 tie in this one before Menlo went on its decisive run. From there, the Oaks rained threes and the Mustangs did not.
A late rally cut Menlo's lead to seven with 1 minute, 16 seconds remaining, but the Oaks salted the game away at the free throw line.
"It's always tough to win on the road in the GSAC, but I don't think we played well," said point guard Hansel Atencia, who scored 24 points. "We had a good second half, but we didn't finish the first half well, and I think that's what cost us the game."
Tim Soares also scored 24 points for the Mustangs, on 6-of-8 shooting, and Delewis Johnson followed with 14. But Master's shot just 3-of-17 from the three-point line and totaled a season-low one assist.
The Oaks made 11-of-25 three pointers and shot 54% for the game.
Five players scored in double figures for Menlo (9-11, 5-6), which has won three straight games, two against ranked opponents, as it continues to push for the final spot in the GSAC tournament.
The Mustangs will look to rebound Saturday at No. 18 William Jessup in Rocklin. It won't be an easy task, even for a TMU squad that hasn't lost back-to-back games since January 2017.
To prolong the streak, Master's will have to avoid letting the Warriors get on a roll.
Menlo made all seven of it shots — four threes — during its crushing, 18-2 run near the end of the first half.
"It's like (assistant coach) Evan Jenkins said, we have to stop taking the first half for granted," said Atencia, "and just come out and be ready to play every night."
The Mustangs finally found an answer late in the second half, moving within striking distance.
But after Johnson sprinted upcourt and bullied his way to a layup to cut the deficit to seven with 1:16 to play, the Mustangs were unable to force a turnover.
Their three-game winning streak came to an abrupt end.
"Their guys were making tough shots all around," said Soares. "We just need to do a better job of getting into the paint."
