AZUSA, CALIF. — As he'd done on more than one occasion, Master's forward Brock Gardner barreled downhill, absorbed contact and flipped the ball into the basket with his left hand.
Azusa Pacific wasted no time answering. The Cougars rushed the other way and Noah Bundrant drained a three-pointer from the shoulder.
Any attempts by Master's to erase a deficit that had risen north of 20 in Wednesday's second half were hindered by the Cougars' ability to connect from distance, a range the Mustangs never found in a 90-73 exhibition loss inside Felix Event Center.
Master's made four of the 14 three-pointers it attempted, two of the makes coming well after the game had been decided. The Cougars, an NCAA Division 2 team picked to finish second in the PacWest Conference, knocked down 16-of-31.
"Anytime a team does that, it's kind of hard to stay in it," said Gardner, who finished with 17 points and six assists. "It felt like offensively we were kind of rushed and they took us out of our element. ... They kind of had it going on on both sides."
Master's center Tim Soares finished with 17 points before fouling out with roughly six minutes to go. Sam Boone chipped in 13 points and Michael Taylor added 10, all of Taylor's coming in a first half where the Cougars built a modest 39-30 advantage.
The number ballooned over the game's final 20 minutes, with Azusa Pacific shooters often finding open space beyond the three-point arc and the Mustangs struggling to keep pace. It was the second straight game in which Master's struggled to find a rhythm offensively. The Mustangs lost 67-63 in an exhibition last week against Concordia Irvine, the team forecasted to win the PacWest Conference.
The Mustangs shot 2-for-22 from three in that game. So while Wednesday was a mild improvement, Soares and Gardner pointed to an overall lack of patience and discipline running the team's offensive system for why Master's is off to a slow shooting start.
"The threes we did make, a couple threes, they were because we did a better job of running the offense," Soares said. "I don't think we're doing a good job of running our offense right now. Once we get our offense down, people start moving the right way, shots will start falling because we'll be in the right position."
On the other end, four different Cougars hit at least two three-pointers, and Ben Taufahema knocked down 4-of-6.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Division 1 Preseason Coaches Poll, will open the regular season at home against Occidental College on Saturday at 5 p.m.
