Kaleb Lowery became just the fourth player in The Master's men's basketball history to eclipse the 2,000-point mark in the Mustangs' 80-67 win over the OUAZ Spirit Saturday in The MacArthur Center.
Lowery passed the milestone with 18:30 to play in the game on a 3-pointer. The 2-time GSAC Player of the Year and 2-time All-American finished with a game-high 21 points, 17 of which he scored in that second half. He now has 2,014 career points, which ranks him fourth all-time.Â
"There's a high loyalty factor with Kaleb to me as a coach but also to the program and the institution itself," said TMU Head Coach Kelvin Starr. "He's a young man that could easily have chosen to play somewhere else, but he stayed committed to our institution. And he's done it unselfishly, which reflects the culture of our program. And when he plays that way he's good, he's really good. He's responsible for all the success we've had in our program the last five years. And it's personal for me too because he is like a son to me. We are family. So I'm proud of him and happy for him."
TMU fell behind early to the Spirit 7-2. But an 11-3 run put the team up 13-10 with 11:46 to play in the first half, a lead The Master's would never relinquish. A 32-25 halftime score blossomed into as much as a 21-point lead before settling with the 13-point win.
The Mustangs were efficient with their shots, hitting 30 of 66 (46%) field goals and 11 of 33 (33%) from long range. The team also won the rebounding battle (50-28) and picked up five steals and three blocks as well.
The defense held the Spirit to just 33% from the field, though did send OUAZ to the line for 29 free throws.
"It's cliche but you don't walk into any win," Coach Starr said. "It's never just handed to you. And it doesn't matter who you are playing in conference. You've got to be ready to go. But anybody can beat anybody any given night, that's why you play the games. And OUAZ did a good job of competing, spreading us out and attacking us. So yeah, they made us earn everything today."
In addition to his 21 points in the game, Lowery pulled down 12 rebounds and added six assists.
Caden Starr hit four 3s to bring his career total up to 197, one behind Joey Penberthy for sixth all-time. He finished with 14 points followed by
Jazen Guillory with 11
The Master's will now head to Arizona for a 2-game road trip starting with Benedictine-Mesa on Thursday followed by the Buccaneers of Park-Gilbert on Saturday.
