Box Score
Video of final free-throws

Jerante Morgan sank two free throws with three seconds left to lift Fresno Pacific past the visiting Master's College Mustangs 70-69 on Tuesday night.

Kendall Holmes scored 22 points, Deshaun Legree added 18 and Morgan finished with 16 as the Sunbirds improved to 7-3, 2-1 in GSAC play.

"Every GSAC game is a battle," said Sunbird head coach Chris Wright following the victory. "Master's is a very good team. I was extremely proud of our guys for the way they closed out the game defensively."

The entire second half was a nail-biter as the game stayed within three points for the final 15 minutes. The Mustangs led by three with two minutes left, but a fadeawy by Morgan and a jumper at the top of the key by Matt Christman put the Sunbirds ahead 67-66 with 1:05 to play.

TMC's Joey Fuca lost control of the ball on the next possession with Legree getting the steal. He was fouled on the fastbreak with 36 seconds left and would make one free-throw.

The Mustangs then got the ball in the hands of Leif Karlberg, one of the better shooters in the GSAC, and he nailed a three with 17 seconds left to put TMC back on top 69-68. With time running down Adam Kado got the ball inside to Morgan, who put a move on his defender and drew a foul.

After calmly sinking both free-throws, a desperation three by Fuca came up short. The Master's falls to 3-5, 1-2 in the GSAC with the loss. Karlberg and Anthony Cammon led TMC with 17 points apiece. Cammon added seven assists and the Mustangs shot 52 percent from the field.

FPU began the game by overwhelming the Mustangs on both sides of the floor. Holmes scored the game's first eight points and, after a Mustang timeout, Legree followed with a three-pointer and a fastbreak dunk that made the score 13-2 Sunbirds.

The Sunbirds still led by 11 with under seven minutes to play in the half, and the game looked like it had potential to turn into a blowout. But the Mustangs caught fire over the next six minutes and the Sunbirds went absolutely cold.

FPU had trouble hanging on to the ball, turning it over seven times in that span, and the Mustangs took advantage. TMC ended up going on a 17-0 run to take a six-point lead at 36-30 with a minute remaining in the half.

A free-throw by Morgan finally ended the run and buckets by Legree and Holmes in the final minute brought the halftime score to 36-35.

The second half featured some Sunbird highlights, including a monster dunk by Morgan to tie the game at 44. Minutes later Morgan would deliver another highlight-reel play, blocking Karlberg against the glass and feeding Kenny Bradford for a quick three-pointer on the other end.

The Sunbirds shot 53 percent on the night and scored 36 points in the paint. Morgan led the team with eight rebounds and Bradford had a team-high four assists. Both teams turned the ball over 21 times in the game.

FPU faces a tough GSAC road test this Saturday when they travel to El Cajon to take on San Diego Christian. The Hawks (4-5, 1-2) pulled off a major upset of the Sunbirds there last season.

Around the GSAC
California Baptist 69, Hope International (H) 57
#9 Azusa Pacific (H) 71, #16 Biola 57
#6 Concordia (H) 92, San Diego Christian 57
Point Loma Nazarene 83, Vanguard (H) 70