Theresa Brown

WOMEN

LA MIRADA, Calif. – If there’s anything the Lady Mustangs are known for in their 2012-13 campaign, it is their consistent play.  Take TMC senior point guard Theresa Brown (Eugene, OR) for example.  In Saturday night’s match against conference opponent Biola, Brown notched her fourth double-double of the season by yanking down 11 rebounds and scoring 11 points.

A more obvious example of the Lady Mustangs’ consistent play can be seen in the spotless record they currently hold at 17-0, and 4-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

The Lady Mustangs’ best start to a season in program history is also made up of two key ingredients: hard work and resilience.  In addition to consistency, Saturday’s victory against conference rival Biola also displayed those two virtues.

TMC only trailed once, early on in the first half, after 24 seconds, before a jumper from Brown, and a shot by Jacquelyn Marshall (San Clemente, CA) gave them a permanent lead for the rest of the night.

The evening began with TMC rocketing off to a 35-9 effort in the first stanza.  First-half scoring was shared by eight different Lady Mustangs, with Marshall leading all scorers with 11 points.

Zoe Scott (Spokane, WA), tacked on eight points, starting with a jumper at the 15:22 mark giving TMC a 10-5 advantage. Later on in the first half, Scott, who currently ranks 23rd in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball in three-pointers made per game, notched two treys and finished the opening 20 minutes by going 2-2 on three-pointers.

The Lady Mustangs shot 40% (13-32) during the opening 20 minutes, while their stout defense held the opposition to a meager 18% accuracy. Defensively, Brown paced TMC in the first half with seven rebounds.

Entering into the second half down by 26, the Lady Eagles slowly, but surely started to chip away at TMC’s lead. Biola opened up scoring with a 4-0 run before Brown drove in a layup to give the Mustangs a 22 point lead. But with eight minutes left on the clock, Biola’s offense surged with an 11-2 run led by Amy Freet, Aubree Mittell, and Chelsea Hill shortening the Lady Mustangs lead to nine, their smallest lead since early in the half.

With two minutes left in the game the two squads went back and forth in scoring, but it was the Lady Mustangs who managed to hold onto the lead for the squads’ 17th victory.  A three-pointer from Biola’s Jamie Elias cut TMC’s lead to six, bringing the final score to 59-53.

Collectively, Marshall led the Mustangs with 15 points, with Brown adding 11 more. Lena Rivera, who leads the GSAC in steals (51 total), had two for the evening, and led the squad with six assists.  Rivera finished the night by going 2-2 behind the line, with teammate Nichole Nitake (Torrance, CA) mirroring Rivera’s free-throw performance.

The No. 8 nationally ranked Lady Mustangs now prepare to host No. 11 nationally ranked Westmont, the only other undefeated conference team, Tuesday night at 5:30 in Bross Gym. TMC will need to continue their trademark consistency if they hope to keep sole possession of the lead in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

Jason Logan

MEN

La Mirada, CA – Recently, there hasn’t been too much for The Master’s College Men’s basketball team to celebrate about.  However, on Saturday night in Chase Gymnasium on the campus of Golden State Athletic Conference rival Biola (11-9, 1-3 GSAC), the Mustangs (12-7, 1-3) snapped their four game losing streak, and notched their first conference victory of the season.

Jason Logan (Spartansburg, SC) started off the Mustangs’ scoring efforts with a jumper 18 seconds into play, followed by a layup at the 19:09 mark, a trey with 15:58 on the clock, and another layup 50 seconds later to give the Mustangs a 9-4 lead.

Chris Patureau (Houston, TX) followed with a layup giving the Mustangs an 11-6 lead before long-range marksman Derrick Fain (Dallas, TX) drained a three-pointer at the 13:29 mark.  Two minutes later, Leif Karlberg (Anchorage, AK) capitalized off a fast break and rushed in a layup putting the Mustangs up 16-10. Karlberg furthered the Mustangs’ lead 30 seconds later when he sank a three-pointer giving TMC a 19-12 advantage.

With a little under 10 minutes left on the clock, Devin Dyer (Temecula, CA) notched two consecutive free-throws followed by Jason Logan rushing in a timely layup giving TMC a five point cushion at 23-18.

In the final five minutes, Karlberg notched a long-range three-pointer, followed by a Paul Brown (Kingston, Jamaica) tip-in, putting the Mustangs up 28-24.  Karlberg and Lance Reeves (Visalia, CA) put gave the Mustangs a 34-26 advantage as the duo sank two consecutive free throws one minute within each other.

Korey Anderson (Clovis, CA) and Karlberg stretched the Mustangs lead to 37-28.  But a determined Biola cut the Mustangs’ lead to one when Cody Whitlock nailed an improbable three-pointer with one second left on the clock.

With the score at 37-36 at the half, The Mustangs shot 44% (14-32) during the opening 20 minutes, but was eclipsed by Biola’s superior 55% (17-31) shooting accuracy.

Mirroring his first-half performance, Jason Logan started off the second stanza with a layup eighteen seconds into play.  But in the next eight minutes, Biola chipped away at the Mustangs’ lead and finally tied the game at 49 all.

At the 10:50 mark, Karlberg unlocked the tie with a trey and gave the Mustangs a permanent lead for the rest of the night. Over the next seven minutes, Reeves, Logan, Dyer, and Karlberg spearheaded the Mustang’s offense and brought the game to a closing score of 67-59.

Karlberg and Logan both scored 19 points in the victory, followed by Fain chipping in nine points, all of which came behind the arc.

The Mustangs have little time to celebrate Saturday’s much needed victory as the Mustangs prepare to host No. 8 Westmont Tuesday night in Bross Gym. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.