Newcomers Pace Master’s to 84-70 Win

Mel Hankinson must have been nice, rather than naughty, this past year.

It seems as if The Master’s College basketball coach already has everything he wanted for Christmas.

When Hankinson looked down his bench Friday night as Master’s played visiting Cal State Stanislaus, he saw three new faces.

And all three had a hand in the team’s 84-70 nonconference victory.

The three transfers, who have been waiting since August to see game action, are forward Joe Jon Bryant, guard Terry Minnoy and forward Bruce Watson.

The trio, particularly Bryant, made Hankinson’s already deep bench that much deeper.

Bryant, a 6-foot-7 junior who started on the Richmond team that upset Indiana two years ago in the NCAA tournament, scored 10 points off the bench and grabbed six rebounds.

Minnoy contributed five assists and two rebounds off the bench, and Watson had two points and a rebound in limited action.

Ten of 13 Master’s players scored, and only one starter--Tom Bruner, with 18 points--reached double figures.

Three reserves cracked double digits, led by David Moore with a career-high 22 points.

Everyone seemed excited about the newcomers.

“It was weird seeing a couple of new faces on the floor, but those faces can put the ball in the hole,” Bruner said.

“Once we’re used to seeing them, I think we’re going to be the team to beat.”

Hankinson concurred.

“The added three players gives us the depth of a championship team,” he said.

“If I were an opposing coach, I’d say, ‘Who are we going to key on?’ ”

But will there be enough basketballs to go around? Hankinson doesn’t think it will be a problem.

“We play 1990 basketball, where you press for 40 minutes and rotate 10-11 players,” Hankinson said.

“This is not a star system; it’s a team system.”

Bryant, who figures to crack the starting lineup soon, was glad to finally get on the court.

“It’s funny, I’ve played in front of 30,000 people on national TV, and tonight I played in front of what, 200? But I had all kinds of butterflies in my stomach,” he said. “We’re going to give a lot of teams trouble on the offensive end.”

Bryant was certainly a handful for Stanislaus (5-7), muscling inside to score on a variety of jump hooks and also electrifying the crowd with a swooping one-handed jam after a teammate’s miss.

The Master’s (7-4) took control early and never trailed after Moore’s layup gave the Mustangs a 6-5 lead.

The Master’s led, 41-29, at intermission and led by as many as 22 points in the second half.

The Mustangs’ full-court pressure forced 29 turnovers.

Bryant entered the game with 13:20 left in the first half and made an immediate impact, sinking a turnaround jump shot to give the Mustangs a 16-9 advantage. He made three of five shots in the first half and had three rebounds.

A 10-foot jump hook by Bryant later in the half gave the Mustangs a 39-20 edge--their biggest lead of the opening stanza.

Stanislaus went on a 9-2 run late in the half to trail by just 12 points at intermission.

Stuart Epperson, who played on the same North Carolina high school team with Bryant and told the latter about The Master’s program, added 11 points off the bench for the Mustangs, who shot 50% from the field.

Trevor Crowley led Stanislaus with 19 points and Dexter Coward added 15. The Warriors were playing without standout guard Richard Seay, who has a blood clot in his head--the result of a mugging, Stanislaus Coach John Jones said--and has missed four games.

The Mustangs only figure to get deeper when forward Jason Webster returns to the lineup after Christmas.

Webster, who has been nursing a sprained ankle for two weeks, is eager to join his new teammates.

“I’m salivating,” Webster said. “I can’t wait.”