By Don Gilmore, TMU Sports Information

The Master’s University men’s basketball team, No. 1 in the nation, beat Menlo 106-101 Saturday and will defend its GSAC Tournament championship Monday evening against 14th-ranked Westmont.

Lawrence Russell lives for games like this.

Typically, the senior guard is content to spread the wealth to his teammates, rebound, play defense, and score when the opportunity presents itself.

Then, there are those other times, like Saturday evening, when he decides to take over games.

It was a good thing he did, too, otherwise, the nation’s No. 1 team would not be in a position to defend its GSAC Tournament championship Monday evening against 14th-ranked Westmont.

“Not sure how we won tonight,” said TMU head coach Kelvin Starr. “When a team shoots 60 percent from the three-point line and makes 17 of them, you should probably lose. Lawrence took charge tonight and willed us to the win.”

Russell, tabbed this week as the GSAC Player of the Year, scored a career-high 35 points to lead The Master’s University past an upset-minded Menlo squad 106-101 in one of college basketball’s most entertaining games of the year.

The Mustangs now prepare to take on a Westmont squad, which beat No. 8 Hope International earlier in the evening, for the GSAC’s automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament that starts on March 14.

On an evening when Menlo buried a remarkable 61 percent (17-28) of its three-point opportunities, they started early, hitting a couple of treys in the first three minutes as part of a 9-3 run to move in front 11-5.

Another three-pointer ignited an 8-0 burst that extended the Oaks’ lead to a game-high 12 points (19-7) with 14:15 left in the opening half.

In a game full of dizzying runs, now it was the Mustangs’ turn. Travis Yenor‘s trifecta fueled an 11-0 skein that Russell contributed seven points to as TMU overtook Menlo 20-19 at the 11:21 mark.

The clubs went back forth over the next few minutes until a Yenor layup and a Russell three-pointer forged the Mustangs’ largest lead to that point, 27-23.

Another Menlo three-pointer drew the Oaks to within 29-28 before the Mustangs took off again.

GSAC Defensive Player of the Year Tim Soares showed he could excel on the offensive end, too, nailing a three-pointer that spawned a 9-2 spurt for a 38-30 advantage with 5:19 left in the half.

That created some much-needed separation for the Mustangs, who built the lead to 10 points on two occasions in the next two minutes before Menlo made a huge push down the stretch.

Down 48-38, the Oaks used a trio of three-pointers to ignite a half-closing, 15-6 burst that drew Menlo within 54-53 at the break.

Both clubs shot exceedingly well over the opening 20 minutes with Menlo hitting at a 54.5 percent clip while the Mustangs converted 55.2 percent of their shots. Menlo went 9-15 from behind the arc and TMU was 7-15 from long distance.

There was much more where that came from in the second half as both clubs continued to scorch the nets.

Jonathan Testa’s layup 23 seconds into the second half put the Oaks in front and when Ben Graham drained a three-pointer at the 18:06 mark, Menlo had a 64-57 lead.

The Oaks kept the Mustangs at bay over the next few minutes before Brock Gardner‘s dunk at the 13:40 mark capped a 9-0 run that put the Mustangs back in front 71-69.

No more than two points separated the clubs over the next three-plus minutes until a Russell three-point play created an 82-78 lead for the Mustangs with 10 minutes left in the game.

Just less than two minutes later, a Russell layup capped a 9-0 skein and the Mustangs had an 85-78 lead and seemed to be racing away.

However, there would be no runaway on this evening as Menlo sliced away at the deficit, getting within three points on several occasions as the clock ticked toward five minutes.

A N’jai LeBlanc three-pointer with 2:54 remaining pulled the Oaks within 96-94 but Soares answered with a dunk to double the advantage.

That’s the way it would work the rest of the way. When Menlo closed within two points on following possessions, the Mustangs would answer the next time down the court.

When Charles Neal buried his club’s final trifecta of the evening with 28 seconds left, Menlo was down 102-101.

To get the ball back, though, they had to foul and Gardner made them pay, scoring the game’s final four points from the line to insure the victory.

In the second half, the Mustangs shot a sparkling 63 percent (17-27) from the field despite going just 1-6 from behind the arc and finished just under 59 percent for the game.

Meanwhile, the Oaks went 8-13 from long distance in the second half.

Russell’s 35 points (11-19 from the field, 12-17 from the line) led all scorers. He added a game-high seven assists and pulled down six rebounds.

Four other Mustangs scored in double figures. Gardner went 6-7 from the field en route to 18 points while Hodges Bailey canned a trio of three-pointers off the bench on the way to 14 points.

Soares, who tied Gardner for game-high rebounding honors with seven, added 12 points and Delewis Johnson tossed in 10 more.

Monday night’s championship game promises to be a contrast in styles with the Mustangs looking to push the ball at every opportunity while Westmont is content utilizing a more methodical approach.

Tip-off Monday is set for 7 p.m. PT.