It was the kind of dunk crowds inside the MacArthur Center have grown accustomed to: Michael Taylor soaring off the floor, snatching the basketball in his hands and flushing it through the rim.
This time Taylor took his show on the road, setting the tone on Saturday's first possession by turning a Jordan Starr pass into a smooth alley-oop.
The No. 7-ranked Mustangs never trailed against Life Pacific, running away with an 89-57 win and improving to 17-3 overall. Master's is 7-2 in Golden State Athlete Conference play, one game back of first-place Westmont.
Brock Gardner totaled 31 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for the Mustangs, who led by as many as 38 and shot 52% from the floor. Eight Mustangs scored at least five points, with Taylor and Darryl McDowell-White joining Gardner in double figures.
It was a decisively different showing than Thursday when the Mustangs slogged through an ugly win over Vanguard. It was TMU's 47th straight home win, but Taylor said his team's energy evaporated quickly and the Mustangs never regained it.
How would Taylor, who finished with 10 points Saturday, rate TMU's energy level against Life Pacific?
"Our energy was on 10 tonight," Taylor said. "Coach challenged us to bring the intensity from the beginning and to get back to playing Mustang basketball, and that's what we did."
Taylor's definition of Mustang basketball?
"I would say intense, very physical and hard-nosed," he said. "Playing as hard as you possibly can for 40 minutes."
Head coach Kelvin Starr said his team succeeded in that category after it came away with 10 steals and out-rebounded its hosts 45-28.
"The guys played championship level basketball tonight," Starr said. "We have great respect for every team in the GSAC. There are no easy wins."
McDowell-White added 10 points for Master's. His 3-pointer with 7:42 left in the first half spotted the Mustangs an 18-point lead and they led 43-27 at the break.
McDowell-White also played exceptional defense on Life's Andre Allen, who entered the night averaging better than 17 points per game with 5.4 assists, 12th most in NAIA Division 1. TMU's DJ Wilson also took turns on Allen, who finished with 11 points on 13 shots and three assists.
Another small victory came when the Mustangs held the Warriors to eight 3-pointers, or three fewer than their season average, which was ninth best in the country entering the night.
The Warriors shot 30% from distance and 34% from the floor overall, the second time in as many games TMU held its opponent below 37%.
"We just did a great job on defense," said Tim Soares, who finished with seven points. "We were pushing them off the three-point line, and DJ and Darryl did a great job on Allen."
The Mustangs started the game with a display of offensive might. After Taylor's alley-oop, Jordan Starr (seven points) threw down a dunk of his own, and Soares created a three-point play to build a 7-0 lead.
As far as extending that advantage, Soares credited Gardner's ability to knife into the paint and finish at the rim. Gardner made 9-of-19 shots overall and 9-of-9 at the free throw line. He also stepped outside and knocked down four 3-pointers. It was the fifth time this season he scored at least 30 points in a game and the first time since Dec. 12.
"The Vanguard game was a grind," Gardner said. "So to come out and dominate early and have some fun tonight was needed for us as a team. Hopefully we can build off the momentum."
