Ryan Beddeo passed the ball to a teammate and sprinted toward the basket. The veteran guard received the ball right back, drew a defender and kicked it to DJ Wilson in the corner for an open three. Wilson's shot splashed through the net.
The Master's University men's basketball team made the extra pass after halftime Saturday against Life Pacific, and that made a significant difference in an 83-65 win.
TMU is now 12-3 overall and 3-3 in Golden State Athletic Conference play.
"I thought we moved the ball as well as we have all year in the second half," said Mustang head coach Kelvin Starr.
TMU finished with 17 assists on 25 baskets on the way to its third straight win.
Caden Starr led the Mustangs with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Wilson followed with 12 points, and Beddeo scored 11 points.
Kelvin Starr called it Beddeo's best game of the season. The veteran guard played energetic defense, dished out four assists and made three of the five three-pointers he tried.
"It started with him going downhill and creating for other people and everything else came from there," Kelvin Starr said. "It also started on defense. He was strong on defense all night."
Collectively, TMU played well defensively early on, holding the Warriors without a field goal for more than four-and-a-half-minutes to start the game. But by halftime TMU led just 42-36.
That's when the Mustangs began playing better weakside defense on pick-and-rolls, and passing the ball with urgency on offense.
Extra passes led to open shots.
TMU shot nearly 52% as a team from beyond the arc, a season high. The team's 14 three-pointers were also a season high.
Wilson made 3-of-5 from distance. Albert Matute was 3-for-4 on the way to a career-high nine points.
Jay Turley and Davian Brown also tossed in nine points each for TMU, which will host Bethesda University on Monday at 7 p.m.
Fans won't be admitted, but live stats and video will be available at go mustangs.com/watch.
