TMU Men's Basketball started brightly, but the challenge presented by eighth-ranked William Jessup University proved too much to overcome, as the visiting Warriors prevailed over the Mustangs, 94-77, inside The MacArthur Center on Saturday afternoon.
Â
"We got beat by a very good team today," Master's Head Coach
Kelvin Starr said. "We played okay offensively but were not good enough on the defensive end to beat one of the better teams in the GSAC."
Â
Two early 3-pointers from
Davian Brown and one from
Ryan Beddeo helped TMU develop a six-point lead just three minutes into the game, before a 15-2 run gave the visitors a seven-point lead.
Â
A step-back triple from
Caden Starr to beat the shot clock then helped the Mustangs regain their advantage with eight-straight points.
Â
TMU's 21-20 lead at the 11:14 mark proved to be the last time Master's found itself ahead, as William Jessup controlled the remainder of the game.
Â
The visitors led by 12 late in the first half, before a pair of free throws each from
DJ Wilson and Brown cut the Mustangs' deficit to single digits entering halftime.
Â
WJU quickly restored its double-digit advantage early in the second period, before Jessup surged ahead to lead by as many as 29 with four-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Â
Master's showed some life late, cutting that deficit by 12 points, but weren't able to get enough stops throughout the game to keep pace with the Warrior offense that shot 53.2% from the field and 44.4% from behind the arc.
Â
The 94 points put up by William Jessup is the most points TMU has conceded in almost a year, since the Mustangs gave up 96 in a loss to Ottawa University Arizona on Jan. 22, 2021.
Â
Kaleb Lowery (20 points, nine rebounds) led five Mustangs who scored in double figures, as he was joined by Brown (13 points), Beddeo (11 points),
Jordan Starr (10 points, six assists) and
Jaden Graham (10 points).
Â
Master's (12-4 overall, 3-4 GSAC) returns to conference play on Thursday when TMU travels to play San Diego Christian at 7:30 p.m.
