Mustangs lose in the final seconds to the Royals

Box Score The score was tied 65-65 with 23 seconds to play.
 
Hope International had the ball.
 
With four seconds on the clock, Grant Sii found a lane in the Mustangs' defense, drove to the basket, hung in the air, and floated the ball up.
 
It bounced on the rim once before falling through the net.
 
Ball game.
 
The Master's men's basketball team lost a heartbreaker 67-65 on the road at Hope International Saturday.
 
The loss drops the Mustangs (19-7, 8-4) out of sole possession of first place in the conference standings and into a tie at the top with both HIU and Arizona Christian. It also breaks a four-game win streak.

"Tough loss on the road against a very good team," said Head Coach Kelvin Starr. "I think our bench guys did everything they could to prepare us this week. So I want to give them credit. It's just that our guys on the floor didn't get it done, including us coaches. We made some critical mistakes as well."
 
The game started with TMU jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the first 2:17 of the game. But the Royals scored eight unanswered points to tie it at 10-10.
 
The game would stay tight, with neither side gaming more than a seven-point advantage, for the rest of the contest.
 
After Hope International took a one-point 33-32 lead into the locker room, The Master's snatched the momentum from the start of the second half, getting up to that seven-point lead with 9:49 to play. The lead was still six points with 2:15 to play, when the Royals started to make their free throws, a key 3-pointer, and then Sii's heroics, to finish on an 8-0 run to win the game.

"We've got to stay positive and get back to work in the gym," Starr said. "I know it's cliché, but we' ve got to take it one day at a time and trust the process."
 
Ty Harper led the Mustangs with 28 points on 11 of 15 shooting from the field, including 6 of 7 from behind the arc. Kamrin Oriol had 17 and Kaleb Lowery added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.
 
The Master's will play their final two GSAC games at home this Thursday and Saturday, starting with a game against the Jessup Warriors Thursday night at 7:30. That will also be senior night, as both the men's and women's basketball teams will honor their seniors before the start of the men's game.