Box Score A blowout in the first half turned into a thriller in the second half as No. 18 The Master's men's basketball lost to the No. 15 Rocky Mountain (MT) College 95-91 Friday in the first game of the Cactus Classic in Chandler, Ariz.
The Mustangs (8-3) jumped out to a 10-0 lead at the start of the game that led to a 61-34 halftime advantage. The team shot better than 63% from the field in those first 20 minutes, including 8 of 13 from 3-point range, while holding Rocky Mountain to just 35% and 1 of 12 from long range.
But you never poke a sleeping bear.
The Battlin' Bears roared back in the second half, tying the game at 74-74 with 7:57 to play, and then taking the lead by a point after consecutive made free throws. It was their first lead of the game.
The game went back and forth, with the Mustangs taking a 90-89 lead with 34 seconds to play on a pair of clutch free throws by
Ty Harper.
A key Bears jumper, though, and a perfect 4 for 4 from the line in the final 15 seconds, sealed the comeback win for Rocky Mountain.
"We were a top 10 team in the first half and a bottom 10 team in the second half," said TMU Head Coach Kelvin Starr. "That really sums it up."
In stark contrast to the first half, TMU shot 33% from the field in the final 20 minutes, hitting just 2 of 14 3-pointers.
For the game, The Master's committed 17 turnovers that lead to 20 Bears' points. Rocky Mountain committed 10 turnovers that led to seven points for TMU.
Jordan Caruso had a double-double by the end of the first half, finishing with a team-high 24 points and 16 rebounds.
Kaleb Lowery had a double-double as well, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out. Harper had 18 and
Kamrin Oriol added 12.
The Master's will get a day off before taking on Carroll College (MT) on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT.
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