By Don Gilmore, TMU Assistant Sports Editor

On the heels of the most successful regular season in program history and just days away from the defense of their GSAC Tournament championship, three members of The Master’s University men’s basketball team have been named to the 2017-18 Men’s Basketball All-GSAC Team by Under Armour.

Headlining the trio is GSAC Player of the Year and two-time all-conference honoree Lawrence Russell (pictured above). The senior guard paced the club in scoring (15.7ppg, fourth in the GSAC), three-pointers (56, sixth in the GSAC), and steals (1.9spg, second in the GSAC).

He scored in double figures 25 times and notched five double-doubles. Russell tallied a career-high 32 points vs. William Jessup on January 6 and pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds against Menlo on February 3.

Joining Russell on the squad is junior guard Hansel Atencia, who enjoyed a breakout campaign. He paced the Mustangs in assists (4.2apg, second in the GSAC), free throw percentage (83.5 percent, fifth in the GSAC), and led the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.7) while averaging a career-best 15.3ppg (eighth in the GSAC).

He scored in double figures 25 times, highlighted by a career-high tying 35 points against Vanguard on February 24. He dished out a season-high nine assists vs. the University of Antelope Valley on December 29.

Rounding out the trio of Mustangs on the all-conference team is sophomore center Timothy Soares, who established himself as the conference’s premier post man. He pulled down a team-high 8.8rpg (third in the GSAC) and averaged 14.5ppg (third on the team and 10th in the GSAC). He led the club in field goal percentage (58 percent, sixth in the GSAC), double-doubles (6), and set a single-season record with 83 blocks, the top mark in the conference.

He scored a career-high 33 points vs. the University of Antelope Valley on December 29. He yanked down a career-high 19 rebounds against Arizona Christian on January 11 and finished with ten double-digit rebounding games.

The talented threesome will lead the Mustangs into the conference tournament this weekend. The tourney’s top seed drew a first-round bye and will take on the Vanguard-Menlo winner (played on Friday) Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PDT.