Mustang seniors make an impression in final home game

Five TMU men's basketball players played their final home Thursday evening.
 
They combined for 70 points and 32 rebounds as the No. 20-ranked Mustangs beat Life Pacific University 105-73 in the MacArthur Center.
 
"The guys came out dialed in and focused from the very beginning," said TMU head coach Kelvin Starr.  "It was our seniors' last game playing on the floor and they did a great job of closing out their careers here tonight."
 
One of those seniors, center Tim Soares, went off for a game-high 29 points.  He's averaging 23.3 points per game in his past eight outings.
 
Fellow seniors Brock Gardner and Darryl McDowell-White scored 18 and 13 points, respectively, while transfer Sam Boone, who is spending his senior year at TMU, tallied nine more.

Senior Michael Taylor contributed six rebounds. 
 
On playing in his final home game after a four-year Mustang career, Soares said, "Four years have gone by pretty quick.  I've spent a lot of time in the gym during the summers, practice during the regular season, just got very familiar with this gym.  But, I'm thankful for all the opportunities I had.  It's a blessing."
 
After bolting to a 9-2 lead and forging a 20-10 advantage with 12:22 left in the first half, the Mustangs didn't put the Warriors away as quickly as they would have preferred.
 
The Warriors drained a trio of three-pointers, part of an 11-2 run that pulled them within 22-21 at the 10:20 mark. But it wasn't long before Gardner drained a three-pointer to spark a 10-2 run to push TMU's lead back to 10. 
 
Later, consecutive threes from DJ Wilson, Jordan Starr, and McDowell-White turned an eight-point lead lead into a 17-point (51-34) cushion.
 
TMU drained eight three-pointers in the first half.
 
The Mustangs led 51-39 at the break. 
 
TMU shot 57.6% from the field in the first half and improved on that in the second period when it connected on 24 of its 37 shots.
 
Twenty-two seconds into the second half, McDowell-White buried a trey that ignited a 12-0 surge, pushing the lead to 63-42 with 17:49 left to play.
 
Soares had a three-pointer during the run and Starr connected on three jumpers.
 
The Mustangs hit the century mark for the second time this season on a Nick Swenning three-point play with 2:11 remaining.
 
Tied with Arizona Christian and Menlo for second place in the GSAC, the Mustangs (22-7, 12-5 GSAC) can secure the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in next week's GSAC Tournament with a win at Vanguard Saturday evening in the regular-season finale and a Menlo loss to Arizona Christian earlier in the day. The GSAC tournament will be at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. 
 
"Headed into the postseason, we have preached that our team needs to play with a sense of urgency and for each other," Starr said. "The seniors have done a great job of leading our team in that area."