The Master's men's basketball team erased a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Menlo Oaks 65-61 Thursday night in Atherton, Calif.
The Mustangs had entered the game in a six-way tie at the top of the Golden State Athletic Conference standings at 3-2. The win keeps the team in that tie for first place.
TMU (15-5, 4-2) struggled from the field, finishing 26 of 61 (43%) from the field, and only 4 of 20 (20%) from behind the arc. But defensively they held the Oaks to 21 of 50 (42%), including just 8 of 24 (33%) in the second half.
"We turned the pressure up in the second half and held them to just 26 points," said TMU Head Coach Kelvin Starr. "Kaleb (Lowery) had a great bounce-back game and played really well on both sides of the ball."
And despite being out-rebounded 44-33, The Master's forced 21 Menlo turnovers that led to an 18-12 difference in points. The Mustangs committed just eight turnovers in the game.
Kamrin Oriol once again came off the bench to lead the team in scoring, this night with 16.
Kaleb Lowery added 14 and a team-high eight rebounds, with
Jordan Caruso dropping 14 and
Ty Harper putting in 12.
"Eli (Terpsma) played his first real significant minutes in a college game," Starr said. "And Deon (Earley) gave us some quality minutes in the second half to really lift us."
Earley scored two points and pulled down three rebounds in 16 minutes. Terpsma scored two with a rebound in nine minutes.
"It's a good win. Any win on the road in this conference is a good win," Starr said. "Now we have to do it all over again in less than 48 hours."
The Master's will now travel to Rocklin, Calif. to play the Jessup Warriors on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
