A career-high 28 points from freshman
Davian Brown was not quite enough for The Master's University men's basketball team against William Jessup on Friday evening, as the Mustangs fell to the Warriors, 74-71, in Golden State Athletic Conference action.
"I told the guys after, it was like a classic GSAC game," Master's head coach
Kelvin Starr said. "It always seems to come down to one or two possessions. Every little detail matters. It does come down to individual things. We had a couple defensive breakdowns in the scouting report, which hurt us. That's basketball."
TMU (9-2 overall, 1-2 GSAC) started three freshmen in a game for the first time all season. All three scored in double figures, with Brown leading all players with his 28 points in his first-career start.
Kaleb Lowery almost recorded a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while
Caden Starr added 10 points and seven boards of his own.
"We had big-time plays by freshmen, particularly Davian,"
Kelvin Starr said. "I thought Kaleb and Caden did a great job too. The three freshmen really stepped up in a big-time game."
Despite the impressive showings from the young players, it was senior
DJ Wilson (11 points) who gave the Mustangs an early lead with two triples. TMU extended its lead to as many as seven with 8:30 to play in the first half, but William Jessup outscored Master's 17-5 the rest of the opening period to take a five-point halftime advantage.
Straight out of the locker room, Brown punctuated a Mustang 10-0 run to start the second half with his fourth old-fashioned 3-point play of the game, putting TMU back up by five.
The Warriors then began to heat up from behind the arc, taking their largest-lead of the game, seven points, with 4:01 remaining. The younger Starr then scored six-straight Mustang points to bring the home side within two, before two Lowery free throws tied the game at 71 apiece with just 11 seconds left.
That set the stage for William Jessup (6-2, 3-0) to respond with its 12th and most important triple of the game, hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with three seconds on the clock.
The visitors connected on 12 triples overall at a 40.0% clip, compared to just five on 29.4% shooting from deep for TMU.
However, Master's won the points-in-the-paint battle, 34-16.
"That's what we talked about, getting paint touches, getting inside,"
Kelvin Starr said. "We did a good job of that down the stretch. Caden and Kaleb got in there late in the game and got baskets at the rim. There are some really good things to build on."
The Mustangs' paint presence is just one of the reasons Starr is excited for his team's rematch with William Jessup on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
"I think the intensity level early on in the game tomorrow is going to be big,"
Kelvin Starr said. "They switched up a lot of things defensively, so we'll have to adjust to that. Just like any other GSAC battle against somebody you know pretty well, you just have to come out and compete. The good news is we get to play in less than 24 hours.
"We just have to learn how to win close games. This is part of the process for a young team. I'm excited about what we're doing. I was glad to be in a game and I'm ready to come back and compete tomorrow. It's going to be fun."
