COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEWS : Tough Schedule Might Be Master’s Ally

After winning 59 of 69 games and advancing to the NAIA Division I tournament the past two seasons, The Master’s College is paying for its success.

The Mustangs, who lost in the quarterfinals last year, used to have a difficult time scheduling top-notch opponents because they weren’t considered a worthy foe.

No longer.

They still have some soft touches--do American Indian Bible and Holy Names ring a bell?--but they also play several superior NCAA Division II and III teams.

UC Riverside and Cal State Bakersfield, ranked third and 10th, respectively, in Division II, and traditional NAIA tournament teams such as Hawaii Pacific, Fresno Pacific and Westmont are on the Mustangs’ schedule.

“We could have the hardest schedule this school has ever had,” third-year Master’s Coach Bill Oates said. “It’s going to make it a lot more difficult to have the kind of records we had in the past two years, but I think it will make us a tough, tested team by the end of the season.”

The Mustangs opened the season with a 66-61 victory at Fresno Pacific on Tuesday and will play host to Cal State Los Angeles, Hawaii Pacific and Southern California College in a two-day tournament that starts at 6 tonight.

Forward James Mosley, last year’s NAIA Far West Region Independents player of the year, and point guard Mike Penberthy, an All-Far West Region selection, are the team leaders for Master’s.

Mosley, a 6-foot-3 senior, averaged 17.8 points and 5.5 rebounds a game last season. Penberthy, a 6-2 junior, led the team in scoring (18.3), assists (6.6), free-throw percentage (90.9) and three-point percentage (44.8).

Penberthy, who averaged 24.4 points and 8.6 assists in postseason play, had 39 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and made all 16 of his foul shots against Fresno Pacific.

Leo Gorauskas, a 6-9 junior center, and Matt Kordik, a 6-7 senior forward, are the Mustangs’ other returning starters.

Gorauskas averaged 14.3 points and 6.8 rebounds and shot 68.1%. Kordik averaged 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds.

Jeremiah Cathey, a 5-10 junior transfer from Cuesta College, rounds out the starting lineup. Junior Reggie Robinson, a 6-8 junior transfer from Arkansas Little Rock, and returning sophomores Jon Ordonio (6-0) and Jeff Mobley (7-0) should give the Mustangs quality depth.

“I like this team,” Oates said. “We might not be as good an outside-shooting team as before, but I think we’ve added a little bit of size.”