Brayden Miner hit seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points, but the No. 17 Master's University men's basketball team lost its season opener 98-96 to Cal Lutheran on Thursday night at The MacArthur Center.

The game had seven lead changes and five ties. TMU hit 14 3-pointers and shot 47.7% from the field, but went 20 of 35 (57.1%) from the free-throw line. Cal Lutheran outscored the Mustangs 42-28 in the paint and 21-10 on second-chance points.

Quincy Phillips added 24 points and three steals, and Jayceon Smith had 16 points and six rebounds off the bench.

TMU started fast. Phillips, Kelson Gebbers and Brayden Miner combined for three 3-pointers in the first 90 seconds, and the Mustangs led 12-3 at 18:26. Cal Lutheran came back with its bench. The Kingsmen tied the game 23-23 with 8:34 left in the half and took their first lead, 29-27, on an Aidan Crawford layup at 6:20. Cody Shen scored twice in the paint to help Cal Lutheran go up 42-33 with 3:07 left.

Phillips then scored seven straight points for TMU and cut the deficit to 42-40 with a minute left in the half. He had 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting before halftime. Shen answered with a 3-pointer and a jumper at the buzzer, and Cal Lutheran led 47-42 at the break.

Miner took over in the second half. He hit two early 3-pointers to keep TMU close, and Cal Lutheran led 60-52 with 16:14 left. The Mustangs then went on a 15-0 run. Miner hit three straight 3-pointers, the last one assisted by Jalen Atkins, to give TMU a 61-60 lead at 15:03. Smith followed with a 3-pointer, then stole the ball and set up Nate Boakye for a dunk that made it 67-60.

TMU held the lead for the next 10 minutes. Atkins hit a 3-pointer with 9:07 left to put the Mustangs up 81-73. Cal Lutheran kept coming back, with Matthew Verkamp scoring repeatedly inside. The Kingsmen retook the lead at 87-86 on a Cade Collins steal and layup with 5:28 left.

The last five minutes went back and forth. Smith converted a three-point play to tie it 89-89. Eli Terpsma hit a 3-pointer to put TMU ahead 92-91 with 3:46 left. Smith made two free throws for a 94-93 lead with 2:17 to go.

Verkamp hit a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left to give Cal Lutheran a 96-94 lead. Terpsma made one of two free throws, and Josh DeVore made two at the other end to make it 98-95 with 18 seconds left. Boakye made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left, and Atkins grabbed the offensive rebound off the miss. TMU had two more free throws with four seconds left, down two, but did not score again.

Miner scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half. Every one of his field goals was a 3-pointer: he went 7 of 16 from deep and 4 of 4 from the line. Phillips shot 9 of 17. Atkins scored nine points on 2-of-2 shooting and had two steals. Gebbers had seven points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists. Terpsma added six points.