Master’s Shackles DeLaveaga, CLU, 84-62

Eleven days after Cal Lutheran guard Jeff deLaveaga burned his specially designed defense for a season-high 44 points, Master’s College basketball Coach Mel Hankinson went back to the basics Tuesday night at Bross Gymnasium.

After watching deLaveaga bombard his version of the box-and-one defense at Cal Lutheran, Hankinson came out with a basic switching man-to-man that made deLaveaga look like an ordinary player in Master’s 84-62 victory in a NAIA District 3 game.

“We just pressured him every time he touched the ball,” Hankinson said. “We had four different guards rotating on him defensively and I think it bothered him.”

Although deLaveaga scored a game-high 20 points, 16 of those came in the second half when the outcome was already decided.

The victory improved Master’s record to 19-14 overall and 11-6 in District 3 play, and all but officially guaranteed the Mustangs of their first berth ever in the District 3 playoffs.

The seedings will be announced on Sunday.

Plagued by foul trouble, a cold shooting hand and the Mustangs’ hounding defense, deLaveaga made only two of six shots in the first half as the Kingsmen trailed, 40-24.

“We weren’t pretty offensively,” Hankinson admitted. “But I was very pleased with our defense. I feel we’re peaking perfectly for the playoffs. We’ve got a team that goes 10 deep now.”

Twelve players scored for Master’s, led by center-forward Stuart Epperson, who came off the bench to score 18 points.

Jason Webster had 14 points--four of which came on two right-handed jams--and teammates Jeff Newton and Ken Sugarman added 11 each.

With deLaveaga (seven for 13) struggling, Brendon Dillon, a 6-foot-4 freshman forward from Melbourne, Australia, tried to pick up Cal Lutheran’s scoring slack, but even his season-high 18 points were not enough.

Cal Lutheran trailed, 40-24, at halftime, but things could have been much worse for the Kingsmen. They shot 39% (nine of 23) from the field, committed 12 turnovers and got only four points from scoring ace deLaveaga (two of six), who entered the game averaging 27.9 points a game.

Leading, 38-17, with 3:23 left in the half, the Mustangs got careless with the basketball (committing turnovers on each of their last three possessions) and Cal Lutheran took advantage of the mistakes to key a 7-2 run to end the first 20-minute period.

Dillon led the Kingsmen charge, with a three-point basket and a 15-foot jump shot.

DeLaveaga picked up his third foul with 5:11 left in the half, and was ineffective when he was in the game.

Master’s was led by Sugarman and Epperson, who each scored nine points.

Sugarman was three of three from the field and two of two from the line, while Epperson made three of four field-goal attempts.

Leading, 7-4, early in the game, Master’s went on a 23-4 run.