Master’s Wraps Up Cal State Hayward, 63-57

The Master’s College basketball team went into its final game of 1988 on Thursday night intent on giving itself an early Christmas present.

The Mustangs, however, were not above being charitable before pulling out a 63-57 win over Cal State Hayward in a nonconference game at Master’s College.

Master’s, an NAIA school, led its NCAA Division II opponent by 16 points early in the second half but it took free throws by freshmen Jason Webster and Tom Bruner in the final 30 seconds to ice the win.

The Mustangs improved to 5-7 with their biggest victory of the season. In the past 4 years, Cal State Hayward has won 2 NCAA Division II Western regional championships, 3 Northern California Athletic Conference titles and has made 4 consecutive appearances in the playoffs.

“We just said, ‘Hey, let’s play well and get this D-2 team,’ ” said Bruner, a 6-foot, 6-inch forward from Sanger, Calif., who had a team-high 19 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.

Senior forward Phil Hahn had 18 points for Master’s and Webster, a 6-4 forward from Bakersfield, added 17.

“When your young players are your key players, that’s very encouraging,” Master’s Coach Mel Hankinson said. “This team has been improving every week.”

Gary Hulst, the Cal State Hayward coach, is hoping the same can be said about his team in a few weeks.

The Pioneers (2-8) figured to be buoyed by the recent return of guards Ryant Diew and Lorenzo Hall, who missed much of the early season with eligibility problems.

Diew, who averaged 21.5 points a game last season, had a game-high 23 points against Master’s. But the Pioneers seemed stymied by a zone defense that helped the Mustangs gain a 27-20 halftime lead.

“We played aggressively and we weren’t afraid to take it to them,” Master’s guard Ted Grissom said. “They didn’t like our defense and they threw up some bad shots.”

When Hahn, who was 3-for-3 on 3-point shots, hit one to give the Master’s a 42-26 lead, the Mustangs seemed to have the game in hand.

But Hayward closed to within 48-40 behind Diew and forward Sean Anderson, who scored all of his 15 points in the second half.

Anderson cut the lead to 57-51 with a 3-point play with 2:59 left. He added another basket before Hall came up with a steal and went the length of the court for a layup that pulled Hayward to within 2 points with 1:15 to go.

Twelve seconds later, Grissom ended a 5-minute Master’s scoring drought with a pair of free throws to put the Mustangs ahead, 59-55.

Anderson scored a basket before Webster made his free throws, and the Pioneers’ last threat ended when Diew lost the ball in the backcourt.

“We usually start the season slow,” Hulst said. “When you’re not playing well and you’re playing against an organized team, it’s tough to win. Master’s played very hard and very smart.”

Master’s will savor the win during the holidays before returning to the court the first week of January with road games against San Jose Bible, California Maritime Academy and Dominican College. The Mustangs return home to meet Menlo on Jan. 9.