BOX SCORE
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- Devin Dyer's three-pointer at the horn in overtime gave The Master's Mustangs a 73-72 upset victory at home over Point Loma Nazarene, foiling a Sea Lion comeback in the process.
Dyer's trey after a TMC miss in the paint with five seconds left gave the hosts its first lead in overtime and the improbable victory. Previously, the Mustangs led the entire second half before a stirring PLNU comeback tied the game, sending it to an extra frame.
The win moved The Master's record to 10-16 on the season and to 3-13 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Point Loma fell to 13-12 overall and to 9-7 in conference play.
"We have played with fire three of our last four games," PLNU head coach Ethan Hamilton said. "We haven't been doing the little things we need to do and it finally came back to bite us tonight."
Anthony Cammon led five TMC players with 15 points, while Rhett Beal's 17 points paced PLNU. Beal hit eight of ten shots from the field. James Hancock added 14 points and nine rebounds (hitting all 10 free throw attempts) and Todd Campbell added 13 counters. Marek Klassen, PLNU's leading scorer on the season, was held scoreless for the first time this year.
The Master's held a 31-27 halftime lead and led for most of the second half and pushed their margin to nine points with just under four minutes to play. But PLNU went on a 7-0 run and tied the contest up at 65-65 with 1:18 left on a Beal lay-in. Both teams had shots to take the lead in the final minute of regulation but couldn't convert.
Hayden Lescault gave Point Loma the first bucket to start the extra period and the Sea Lions would lead for most of the five minutes, minus two ties. But holding the ball and a two-point lead with 20 seconds left the visitors turned the ball over, setting up the crazy ending.
Looking to tie the game and send it to another overtime, TMC worked the ball inside to Cammon who missed with five seconds left. But Cammon got his own rebound and dished back out to Dyer beyond the arch stunning the Sea Lions with a bomb at the buzzer. Dyer had missed all of his trey attempts on the night previous to his game winner.
Point Loma held at 40-28 rebound edge but that was negated with 19 turnovers, compared to the Mustangs' four miscues.
PLNU's next road trip on Tuesday (Feb. 15) will be much tougher when they face No. 2 nationally ranked Concordia. Start time is 7:30 pm. "I know that we will be ready to compete on Tuesday, but we will obviously have to play better against one of the top teams in the nation," Hamilton added.
