They regrouped. They shared the ball. They improved on defense.
The Master's University men's basketball team showed considerable resolve Saturday in Surprise, Ariz., bouncing back with a strong showing after a lopsided loss the night before.
And yet, with two seconds remaining in Saturday's rematch with OUAZ, The Master's University men's basketball team still needed a bucket.
That's when Jordan Starr dribbled into the middle of the key, spun to his left and hit a fallaway jumper to force overtime. The No. 9-ranked Mustangs never trailed again and came away with an 83-78 win.
"I'm really proud of the guys for grinding this one out," said TMU head coach Kelvin Starr. "Every guy played a part in a great win."
Six Mustangs scored at least eight points. Jordan Starr finished with 10 points, five rebounds and six assists. Johnny McWilliams led TMU (9-1, 2-0 GSAC) with 23 points and four assists. It was the sixth time in 10 games that McWilliams has reached double figures in scoring.
He had 13 points by halftime, helping TMU build a 32-25 lead. But OUAZ, which trailed by as many as 12 after the break, wasn't finished. The Spirit took the lead with 5:21 left in regulation on a Kam Malbrough three-pointer. The teams traded leads from there until Malbrough made a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left to push the Spirit ahead 68-66.
TMU called timeout.
Kelvin Starr called for the Mustangs to spread the Spirit out and look for a backdoor cut. When that didn't materialize, the ball swung back to Jordan Starr, who made a play to extend the game and help TMU earn a split in its first Golden State Athletic Conference series of the year.
After Friday's 96-68 loss at OUAZ, Jordan Starr said the Mustangs took a "self-inventory."
"I think we had the perfect response as a team," he said. "We didn't perform how we wanted to last night at all and it was upsetting. But the key was that we never turned on each other. We all took a self-inventory and looked at how we could be better and we came out hungry and together."
Kaleb Lowery, DJ Wilson and Caden Starr each scored nine points for TMU, with five of Starr's coming in overtime. Gavin Lloyd added eight points.
The Mustangs will host No. 6 Arizona Christian on Jan. 29 and 30. No fans will be admitted but live video and stats will be available at GoMustangs.com/Watch.
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