On this day,
Tim Soares was unstoppable.
The senior All-American poured in a career-high 36 points as The Master's University remained undefeated with a 96-77 win over the Spirit in Surprise, Arizona.
"Tim was a monster tonight," said TMU head coach
Kelvin Starr. "Dominated the game on both ends of the floor."
Soares proved to be an equal opportunity scorer, tossing in 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field in each half.
Brock Gardner, who had averaged 39 points over TMU's last three games, finished with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds as the No. 2-ranked Mustangs out-boarded the Spirit 48-30.
Freshman guard
Anton Mozga pulled down a career-high 12 of those rebounds.
"Anton had his best game-to-date as a Mustang," said Starr. "He was a dog on the offensive and defensive glass."
Senior
Darryl McDowell-White put in 19 points, nine of those on a trio of three-pointers.
Soares' first two free throws gave the Mustangs (9-0, 2-0 GSAC) the lead 21 seconds into play. Over three minutes later, the second of his back-to-back buckets drew the Mustangs within 12-8.
However, there wasn't much the Mustangs could do against a hot-shooting Ottawa team that hit 10 of its first 13 shots on the way to a 28-16 lead with 10:53 left in the first half.
But Soares led a spirited comeback, scoring 10 points during a 15-2 run, including a dunk with 5:43 remaining in the half that put the Mustangs in front 31-30.
Later, he got help from teammates
Michael Taylor and
Jordan Starr, who combined for three points in the final minute of the half to send TMU to intermission up 41-38.
The Mustangs wouldn't be caught in the second half and they methodically pulled away for the win.
Soares was in the middle of that. So was Gardner.
Soares scored eight points and Gardner added six during a 19-6 run to open the second half as the Mustangs extended the lead into double figures and then some.
Gardner complemented Soares' 18 second-half points with 14 of his own.
The advantage reached a game-high 22 points (78-56) on a Soares' jumper with 7:16 left to play.
Soares drained a three-pointer at the 4:27 mark and capped off his career afternoon with a layup with 1:12 remaining.
Soares' game-high 14 rebounds were part of his third double-double of the season.
After winning their first two GSAC games on the road, the Mustangs return home to prepare for a non-conference contest against La Sierra next Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Starr concluded, "Good trip for our program to come away 2-0 on the road. Proud of the guys."
