Master’s Stops Patten and Goes to Final, 115-92

ORANGE —  “We need a stop! We need a stop!”

Bill Oates, Master’s College men’s basketball coach, continually shouted those instructions to his players during the first 28 minutes of Friday night’s game against Patten College of Oakland in the first round of the NAIA Far West Region Independents tournament at Chapman University, seemingly to no avail.

But with 12 minutes remaining and Master’s leading by 11 points, Mike Penberthy knocked the ball away from Patten’s Cleveland McKinney--and after a Patten foul--Matt Kordik scored on a follow shot at the other end to send the Mustangs on their way to a 115-92 victory.

The Master’s (28-4) won its 15th consecutive game and will play Western New Mexico, an 86-76 winner over Bethany, for the tournament title Monday night at 8.

The winner of that game will advance to the 32-team NAIA championships in Tulsa, Okla., March 14-20.

“Those three stops in a row were really big for us,” said Penberthy, who scored 31 points and had 11 assists. “They were huge. Those guys are just a really good team. They’re very athletic, but we were finally able to shut them down a little bit.”

The Mustangs built a 14-2 lead during the first three minutes of the game, but Patten (11-18) worked its way back behind the long-distance shooting of Jesse Woodson and McKinney.

Penberthy, who scored 19 points in the first half, nailed a 26-foot bomb as time expired to give Master’s a 61-53 lead at intermission.

The Lions trimmed the lead to seven early in the second half before Penberthy scored 10 of the next 12 points for Master’s.

His two free throws gave the Mustangs a 77-68 lead with 14:26 left in the game and he followed that with a breakaway dunk and a three-pointer to give Master’s a 82-71 advantage with 13:24 remaining.

Patten scored the next two baskets to cut its deficit to 82-76, before Colin Lubsey’s basket put Master’s ahead, 84-76.

Penberthy sank another three-pointer following a timeout to give the Mustangs a 87-76 advantage, setting the stage for their three consecutive defensive stops.

“It just seemed like we were finally able to slow them down a little bit defensively,” Oates said. “That was something that we really needed to do.”

All five of Master’s starters scored in double figures, with center Leo Gorauskas scoring 23 points--making nine of 10 shots--and forward James Mosley added 19.

Woodson had 26 points for Patten and McKinney added 23.