Defense was hard to come by in The Master’s University men’s basketball team’s 116-99 win over Park Gilbert on Thursday, Jan. 22 in The MacArthur Center.

Senior Avery Jackson dropped a season-high 45 points, with 28 coming in the opening 20 minutes.

In a game where offense thrived, TMU was red-hot out of the gate, nailing 55 percent of its shots in the first half and making eight of its 16 attempts from distance. The Master’s quickly built the lead up to nine at 18-9 and built it up to as much as 12 in the first half.

Jackson was a big reason why, as he made 11 of his 14 shots and had three steals. Brayden Miner chipped in eight points in the first half as TMU still outpaced a Park Gilbert squad that shot 50 percent from the field.

“Avery’s having a huge season,” TMU Head Coach Kelvin Starr said. “I mean it’s Player of the Year type stuff, and he’s doing it unselfishly as a team player.”

Despite holding just a six-point lead at the break, the Mustangs started the second half strong and had blown the game open just five minutes into the second period. This time The Master’s used a more balanced attack with Quincy Phillips’ nine second-half points, Rylan Starr with eight, and Tiago Soares had eight points.

Jackson continued to score at will, racking up 17 points post halftime, with five rebounds. The Mustangs had the largest lead at 94-69 and cruised to a fourth straight win in GSAC play. The win moved TMU into sole possession of first place in the conference, just a half game up on Benedictine Mesa, which TMU will face next.

“Obviously a massive game game coming up,” Starr said. “We’ve got to defend a lot better than we did today if we’re gonna win that game.”

Miner finished with 16 points and Rylan Starr had 14 on four makes from beyond the arc. TMU forced 17 Buccaneer turnovers and scored 26 points off those turnovers.

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