SURPRISE, Ariz. – Things started well for the OUAZ men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, but the second-ranked The Master's Mustangs showed their experience and pulled away for a 96-77 win at Faith Arena on Saturday afternoon.
OUAZ (3-5, 0-2 GSAC) built a 12-point advantage less than seven minutes into the start of the game on the strength of a making eight of their first nine shots, including a pair of 3-pointers. They still led by 12 with 13:26 to play before Master's (9-0, 2-0) held the Spirit to just five baskets the rest of the half in going on a 31-16 to close the game.
The visiting Mustangs then opened the second half by scoring 21 of the first 27 points on their way to a 22-point advantage in the half. OUAZ would mount a late 9-0 run that was highlighted by a massive dunk from
Elijah Simmons that forced TMU to bring their starters back into the game for the final 2:20 of the contest.
After the hot start, OUAZ finished the game shooting 48.2 percent from the field and just 3 of 16 from beyond the arc. Master's had a 48-30 edge in rebounds with 15 offensive rebounds for 20 second chance points to go with a 58-38 advantage in points in the paint.
Brian Carey led the Spirit in scoring with 25 points while grabbing five rebounds with four assists.
Shazier Lawson added 16 points and six rebounds. Simmons scored 14 points and
Dimetres Moore had 13.
Tim Soares led the Mustangs with 36 points and 14 rebounds.
OUAZ will look to snap their weekend two-game losing streak on Tuesday when they host SAGU American Indian College at Faith Arena at 7 p.m.
