In a game that saw The Master's men's basketball team lead by as much as 13, only to have Arizona Christian erase the lead and take an eight-point advantage of their own, it was the Mustangs that prevailed 77-74 over the Firestorm Thursday night in The MacArthur Center.
Both teams shot the ball well, with TMU (18-6, 7-3) hitting 44% and ACU making 46%. And while the Firestorm made 25 free throws compared to the Mustangs's 20, it was The Master's that finished with an advantage from behind the arc, making nine of their threes compared to Arizona Christian's five.
"This was a classic GSAC battle," said TMU Head Coach Kelvin Starr. "It was one of the best games I've been a part of. Back and forth, multiple runs, big time plays on both sides of the ball. It came down to one possession."
With TMU holding a 75-74 lead,
Jordan Caruso made a pair of free throws with nine seconds to play to give the Mustangs a three-point lead. After a timeout, The Master's defense swarmed and forced a desperate 3-point effort at the buzzer that missed, and the Mustangs were celebrating in front of a capacity crowd.
"It's a big win," Starr said. "ACU is a three-time defending champion and they have been the team to beat the last few years. I thought we had good balance across the board. I thought we did a pretty good job of running our offense, better than we have. Ball movement was pretty good. And the crowd was awesome tonight. They really gave us a big boost."
The first half looked like it could be a Mustangs' rout, as they built up a 26-13 lead with 9:57 to play in the first half. That lead disappeared by the 4:01 mark when a 3-pointer by ACU's Dennis Flowers, III gave the Firestorm a 31-29 advantage. Neither team could mount more than a one-point difference, with TMU clinging to a 38-37 lead at the half.
The Master's held the advantage for the first five minutes of the second half until Flowers again drained a three to put ACU up by two. That sparked a 13-0 run that put Arizona Christian up 56-48 with 13:49 to play.
Then TMU went on a 10-0 run to re-take the lead 58-56 just three minutes later. After
Miles Mendes tied the game 60-60 with a free throw and then made a second to give The Master's a lead, ACU was never able to catch up and the Mustangs finished with the three-point win.
"I thought Miles (Mendes) played his best game since he's been here," Starr said. "He was phenomenal. Made free throws in clutch moments, attacked the rim, defended well. So we will build on that."
Mendes tied his career high with nine points. The Mustangs were led by
Kaleb Lowery with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Caden Starr added 14, while
Ty Harper had 14 and
Jordan Caruso finished with 11 points and nine rebounds as well.
The Master's will be back in The MacArthur Center Saturday to take on the OUAZ Spirit. Both teams are on top of the Golden State Athletic Conference standings with a 7-3 record. The team that comes out with a win will stand alone on top of the table and the best shot at winning a conference championship. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
"Hopefully we can get a good crowd on Saturday like we had (Thursday) night," Starr said. "The crowd was phenomenal and we are really going to need them Saturday."
