SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Starting the second half of conference play with the toughest road trip in the league, the OUAZ men's basketball team took the challenge and upset No. 7 The Master's, 78-76, on Thursday night as
Karriem Simmons made a put back jumper as time expired.
The game's final possession began with a
Brian Carey floater that hit the front of the rim and bounced to Simmons for an 8-footer that beat the horn and snapped The Master's 47-game home court winning streak dating back to the 2016-17 season.
OUAZ (7-12, 3-7 GSAC) led for most of the night, including a 13-point advantage late in the first half. Master's (17-4, 7-3) would chip away throughout the second half and took the lead on four separate occasions before the Spirit would answer.
Carey finished the game with 20 points, six assists, and two steals. He hit a pair of 3-pointers, including one from close the 25-feet out with 3:37 to play to tie the game at 70-70 after the Mustangs had taken their largest lead of the second half.
Shazier Lawson also had 20 points with nine rebounds. Simmons finished with a season-high 12 points and a pair of threes.
Jake Satter hit four 3-pointers to score 12 points.
OUAZ shot 47.1 percent for the game and went 10 of 24 from beyond the arc. It was their most made threes in a conference game this season and their most in any game since they hit 11 on December 10. The Spirit added 15 assists and just 12 turnovers.
At the defensive end, OUAZ held the Mustangs to 44.3 percent shooting and 6 of 18 from deep. They turned the Mustangs over 14 times for 19 points. Master's helped by making just 16 of 31 at the foul line where the Spirit finished 4 of 8.
OUAZ has now won three of their past six games, including two wins over nationally ranked opponents, after starting the season 4-9.
The Spirit will hope to ride the momentum of this win into Saturday when they face No. 4 Westmont at 4 p.m. (AZ) at Murchison Gymnasium in Santa Barbara, Calif.
