Box Score

Fresno Pacific held The Master's to 24 percent shooting on Tuesday night, defeating the Mustangs 59-43 in Santa Clarita. The Sunbirds shot 50 percent from the field and out-rebounded TMC 50-25 in the win, bringing their conference record back above .500 at 7-6.

Jerante Morgan scored 15 points, Deshaun Legree added 10 and Jordan Wild and Kendall Holmes finished with nine points each, but the defense was the story of the night.

"We've really been defending well the last three games," said FPU coach Chris Wright. "Almost all of their shots were contested. The guys did a great job of executing our gameplan and playing hard. We're growing and maturing as a team."

In a rematch of a game that went down to the wire in an FPU win in Fresno, the outcome was never really in doubt as the Sunbirds used their athleticism and depth to their advantage, never letting TMC get comfortable on offense. The Mustangs made just five second-half field goals and shot 17 percent after halftime.

FPU used a mid-first half 12-0 run to build up an early lead, highlighted by a Wild dunk and some Morgan post-moves. FPU led 37-24 at the half and didn't look back, going up by 17 early in the second after a three-pointer by Wild. A jumper by Rickey Vick on the next possession put FPU up 44-25, prompting a Mustang timeout.

The closest The Master's would come the rest of the way was a 14-point deficit as FPU led by as many as 22 before emptying its bench. The Sunbird reserves outscored the Mustang bench 19-6 in the game.

FPU dominated the paint on both offense and defense, outscoring TMC 32-14 inside. Six Sunbirds had four or more rebounds, led by Wild's eight.

Devin Dyer led the Mustangs with 14 points. No Mustang player had more than five rebounds as TMC dropped to 9-14, 2-11 GSAC on the year. FPU held Mustang guard Leif Karlberg, the leading scorer last time the teams played, to an 0-for-10 shooting night.

FPU improves its record to 14-8 (7-6 GSAC) heading into Saturday's home game with San Diego Christian (7-16, 1-12 GSAC). The last-place Hawks have given a lot of teams trouble this year, and took the Sunbirds to overtime the first time the teams met back in December.

Around the GSAC
Point Loma Nazarene (H) 83, Vanguard 60
#2 Concordia 91, San Diego Christian (H) 66
Cal Baptist (H) 82, Hope International 74
#7 Azusa Pacific 70, #18 Biola (H) 57